Albania unlikely to make EU visa-free list by summer
Promises by the Albanian government to its citizens that they will be able from this summer onward to travel to most EU countries without a visa are increasingly unlikely to be kept.
The European Commission has not yet presented its report about the fulfilment of benchmarks for visa liberalisation by Albania and Bosnia. People from the two Western Balkan countries still need a visa to visit countries in the Schengen area after the EU last year lifted visas for Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Kosovo has not been not included in the process.
Tirana apartment block: Bosnia is likely to get an EU visa-free deal before Albania (Photo: David Dufresne)
According to EU sources, the commission report will be drawn up during the course of this month and a possible recommendation will not be presented before June.
Under the EU's Lisbon Treaty, approval by the European Parliament is also needed to lift the visa regime for the two Balkan countries. The EP is clearly inclined to do so but will need at least two months to take the necessary formal steps. At the end of the procedure, it will be up to EU member states to take the final decision.
EU diplomats expect the commission experts in their report in April to confirm that Albania and Bosnia made progress in meeting conditions required for visa liberalisation. But they will probably stop short of saying that both countries fully meet all criteria......
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