Kosovo isolated after vote on Albania and Bosnia visas

Senior EU officials questioned by EUobserver do not believe that any of the non-recognisers - Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain - will change their mind in the coming years.

ANDREW RETTMAN

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - MEPs have put the spotlight on Kosovo being left behind in terms of EU integration after waving through plans for visa-free travel for Albania and Bosnia on top of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

The EU parliament on Thursday (7 October) passed by 538 votes to 47 a motion to let Albanians and Bosnians enter the vast majority of the EU without visas by the end of the year. The nay-sayers came mostly from British, French and Italian members in the eurosceptic EFD group. Almost half of the British-and-Polish-dominated anti-federalist ECR group abstained.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008. But five EU countries are blocking its progress in terms of EU visa-free travel and accession (Photo: Swifty)

Member sates are expected to rubber stamp the measure in November despite reported opposition from France. The new freedoms will only apply to biometric passport holders and will not cover Ireland and the UK.

Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia already made the EU visa-free list last December. The opening-up saw an initial surge of Macedonian and Serbian asylum-seekers to Belgium.

Several MEPs on Thursday noted that Kosovo is now the only part of the Western Balkans without any prospect of visa-free travel to the EU. Tanja Fanon, a centre-left Slovenian deputy who shepherded the visa bill through the EU assembly, blamed the situation on "the split between member states over recognition of its independence."................

http://euobserver.com/9/30991