Lifting of Bosnia visa restrictions ‘to be delayed’
MEP says changes to visa rules might not take effect until the end of the year.
The lifting of European Union visa requirements for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina is likely to be delayed until the end of the year, Jelko Kacin, a Slovenian liberal MEP, said.
Kacin said that a proposal by the European Commission to lift visa requirements was likely to be on the European Parliament’s agenda in September and that it could take effect in December, a year after visa requirements were lifted for citizens of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
EU member states still intend to make a political pledge to lift visa requirements for Bosnian and Albanian citizens at a summit with western Balkans leaders in Sarajevo on 2 June.
Under the Lisbon treaty rules, decisions to lift visa rules have to be agreed by MEPs and EU member states.
Kacin blamed Bosnian politicians for lacking the will to implement reforms required for closer links with the EU. But he also said that thanks to the delay, Bosnia’s current government – which gathers nationalists from the main ethnic groups – would not be able to take credit for the visa liberalisation, which is popular with voters. Bosnia is to hold a general election in October.
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The Commission is to brief MEPs on the committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs on its assessment on Bosnia and Albania’s readiness for a lifting of visa requirements on Tuesday (27 April), based on an assessment mission last month.
“My expectation is that both countries will get a positive evaluation but that a further mission will be needed,” said Tanja Fajon, a centre-left MEP from Slovenia who drafted the Parliament’s opinion on easing visa rules for Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
She said that she hoped the missions would take place before the summer but conceded that even in the best circumstances it would be autumn before a decision could be taken by the Parliament.
“It is important that the EU remains credible,” she said. “I see that people in Bosnia are losing faith in the EU’s institutions – they feel they have met the requirements.”