The news of the year for Kosovo in 2024 was visa liberalization – on January 1, 2024, a visa-free regime for Kosovo citizens came into effect, allowing them to travel to the EU without the need for a visa for a stay of up to three months. This makes Kosovo the last of the six Western Balkan countries to be granted visa-free travel to the EU, writes BTA.
The new rules allow Kosovo citizens to travel to the EU and the Schengen area without visas for a period of stay of 90 days within any 180-day period.
For a year now, Kosovo citizens have had the opportunity to travel without visas to all countries of the European Union, with the exception of Ireland, which is not in the Schengen area, but also to Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which, although not in the EU, are part of the free movement area, notes the newspaper “Koha Ditore“.
Visa liberalization has led to increased interest on the part of Kosovo citizens in traveling and moving within the EU, but also to concerns from companies in Kosovo due to the large number of people of working age who may leave the country after the entry into force of the visa-free regime regime.
There is no published data yet on how many Kosovo citizens have left the country since January 1, 2024. However, data from the country's census conducted this year show that Kosovo's population has decreased by more than 100,000 people since 2011.
According to information from the EU's statistical office (Eurostat), quoted by the Albanian edition of Radio Free Europe, the number of asylum applications from Kosovo increased in the first seven months of 2024. From January to July, an average of over 550 Kosovo citizens sought asylum in one of the EU member states.
SANCTIONS AND STAMB IN RELATIONS WITH THE EU
The newspaper „Koha ditore“ assesses visa liberalization as the only good news of the past year. According to the Kosovo edition in 2024 The country has been at a standstill in its relations with the European Union, and its application to join the bloc has not been considered for two years.
Kosovo applied for EU membership on 15 December 2022 and is the only country in the Western Balkans region that does not yet have candidate status. Five EU member states – Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia and Spain – do not recognise Kosovo’s independence.
Kosovo leaders have repeatedly called in 2024 for the lifting of the punitive measures that the EU imposed on Kosovo in June 2023. These include temporarily suspending the work of EU-Kosovo joint committees under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and freezing invitations to high-level meetings and bilateral visits, except those related to addressing the crisis in northern Kosovo within the framework of the Kosovo Dialogue – Serbia, led by the EU.
Serbia, as well as Serbs in northern Kosovo, where they are a majority, do not recognize Kosovo's independence, which was declared in 2008. Belgrade and Pristina are conducting a dialogue to normalize relations under the auspices of the European Union.
European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said that the commission is ready to lift the measures imposed on Kosovo, as well as to prepare an opinion on the status of Kosovo as a candidate member for accession to the EU, but stressed that this requires unanimity in the EU Council.
DIALOGUE WITH SERBIA AND THE SITUATION IN NORTHERN KOSOVO – REASON FOR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ISOLATION
The international factor has repeatedly called on Kosovo and Serbia to implement the agreements on the dialogue, emphasizing that the only path to the EU and a better future for both countries is through the normalization of their relations.
The international community has also criticized the actions of the Kosovo government to close the illegal, according to Kosovo, parallel Serbian institutions in the northern part of the country, where ethnic Serbs live mainly, arguing that these “uncoordinated and unilateral“ steps could exacerbate tensions between Belgrade and Pristina.
The Kosovo government says that it has taken these steps to extend its sovereignty, but is criticized by the international community, which demands that these issues be resolved within the framework of the dialogue Belgrade – Pristina in order to avoid escalating tensions on the ground.
Among these steps were the introduction of the euro as the only currency for cash payments in Kosovo and attempts to open the bridge over the Ibar River in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo.
However, the Kosovo opposition blamed Prime Minister Albin Kurti for the state of the dialogue and the deterioration of relations with the country's key partners, including the United States.
THE STRIKE ON CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
The fragile situation in northern Kosovo, which is the main reason for the stalemate in Kosovo's relations with the EU and the US, was further complicated after an explosion in that part of the country that damaged critical infrastructure in Kosovo.
The explosion on November 29, 2024 near Zubin Potok damaged the Ibar-Lepenc water canal (in Albanian Ibar-Lepenc), which supplies water to northern Kosovo, Pristina and surrounding cities, as well as the cooling systems of thermal power plants that generate almost all of the country's electricity. Pristina described the explosion as a "terrorist attack". Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused Serbia of being behind the explosion, but did not provide evidence for this claim. Belgrade, for its part, denied involvement in the attack and condemned it, while Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic described the accusation as hasty and irresponsible.
The water supply was restored with a temporary solution - installing a container through which the water would pass, and the case is being investigated, including by the FBI. Data on what happened is expected to be exported.
2025 ELECTIONS - A TEST FOR THE GOVERNMENT
Kosovo is holding parliamentary elections on February 9, 2025. They are expected to be a key test for current Prime Minister Albin Kurti, whose party won convincingly in 2021. The outcome of the elections at the beginning of the year will also determine the direction the country will take.