EC Inks New Visa Agreements with Western Balkans Countries

Nine visa facilitation and readmission agreements were signed recently in a ceremony that took place in Brussels with the participation, from the European Union side, of Vice President Franco Frattini (from the Commission) and the Minister of Interior Rui Carlos Pereira (from the Portuguese Presidency) and, from the Western Balkan countries, of the Ministers of Interior of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Following the mandate given by the Council on November 13, 2006, the European Commission started the negotiations of the nine Community agreements on 30 November and succeeded in finalizing the whole process and commencing the draft agreements with all Western Balkan countries in April/May 2007.

Overall the agreements aim at making it easier for citizens of Western Balkan countries, in particular those who travel most, to acquire short stay visas for the EU, whilst simultaneously putting in place clear rules for combating illegal immigration.

The Visa Facilitation agreements make it possible to maintain the visa handling fee of €35 instead of €60 for all Western Balkan citizens and provide a total exemption from the visa fee for certain categories of applicants. Furthermore, for certain categories of persons, e.g. businessmen, students and journalists, the necessary support documents for a visa application are simplified.

For certain categories of frequent travelers it is possible to issue multi-entry visas with long periods of validity. Finally, holders of diplomatic passports are exempted from the visa obligation.