world
August 02, 2021 – 23:11

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has proposed that the US lift visa requirements with Croatia.

Blinken praises Croatia for its tremendous progress as it says it has met the rigorous standards of the participating countries.

Croatia is one of the countries of the European Union and the last to join the union. / balkanweb

Notice from Blinken:

Today I nominated Croatia to join the Visa Waiver Program. This step towards visa-free travel recognizes Croatia’s tremendous progress in meeting the stringent standards for participating countries. We look forward to an even stronger US-Croatia relationship.

The deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo and at the same time the members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora have described as very unfair the situation in which Kosovo finds itself regarding visa liberalization.

Vetëvendosje Movement MP Fitore Pacolli in an interview with Ekonomia Online said that EU member states are still not convinced that Kosovo has done its job and obligations.

She further says that the main work of the Kurti Government is different from previous governments especially in this regard.

“Now, as a new Government and as a new parliament, we aim and are committed to all European Union countries to convince them that Kosovo has met the criteria and that Kosovo has a new Government and is focused on developing the country. fight corruption and organized crime and in this way we deserve visa liberalization now. “So we are working to convince member states.”

“The problem that we still do not have visa liberalization is that the member states are not convinced that Kosovo has fought corruption and organized crime, but now this is our job and we have to show that we have a new Government and it is different from “past years and we are working intensively in this direction”, said Pacolli.

Pacolli emphasizes that the citizens have understood the injustice that is being done to them on this issue and that they will soon convince the internationals that their approach is unfair.

“Citizens have already realized that what is being done to you by the EU is unfair, due to the non-liberalization of visas for Kosovo. We are doing our job and already the decision depends on them what we say and especially what we do. We are very careful and every decision we make is in line with the values ​​of the EU, we fight corruption and organized crime and this is seen in practice by achieving in this way very quickly convince those who deserve the liberalization of “and it is very unfair the way they are approaching us,” she said.

She says that it is the opposition that has brought Kosovo to this point, and that has deceived the citizens with untrue dates.

“It is the opposition that has brought Kosovo to this point, it is the one that has promised dates and has not fulfilled them, and it is precisely the opposition that has not fought corruption and organized crime and now we have to improve them. the mistakes made by the opposition in order to fix its image of Kosovo ”.

Whereas the MP of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Ariana Musliu-Shoshi said that the Kurti Government is silent on the issue of visa liberalization and does not have any special strategy.

“We as a country since 2016, when the European Commission gave their approval for visa liberalization, but we know that the main problem is the countries that are reluctant to push this process forward. We see the Kurti government that there is a silence in this regard, because they will have to have a special strategy for these countries which are familiar with Kosovo, so there must be a special strategy to push this process forward.

According to her, the Kurti Government, precisely with the promise of the issue of visa liberalization, has won the votes and has not yet realized such a thing, further showing how difficult this whole process and the provision of visas for citizens.

“The Kurti government, a promise with which it won votes, was that it would return the ministry of integration, so this ministry should be the first address of EU countries towards Kosovo, which has not fulfilled such a thing. . I think that there should be a ministry of integrations, as the main task has been the integration of Kosovo in the EU, many foreigners are in favor of visa liberalization, but that we should have an active government in this regard to advance this process “, She further emphasized.

“I understand very rightly because I am also a citizen of this country and I can know how difficult it is to apply for a visa, especially now in this period, but as the opposition we are constantly giving proposals, and trying to “We are pushing the processes forward towards visa liberalization, but that is in the hands of the government,” she concluded.

AAK MP, Time Kadriaj said that it is the first time that Prime Minister Albin Kurti, but also other MPs have finally accepted that Kosovo has met the criteria for visa liberalization.

“It is the first time that Prime Minister Kurti, but also other MPs finally acknowledged that Kosovo has met the conditions and criteria for visa liberalization, because they have always discussed that Kosovo still has conditions to meet for visa liberalization. In fact, Kosovo was the only country that had more conditions and criteria than all other countries in the region and beyond.

“It is an injustice and we as MPs should advocate as members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, because we, regardless of whether we are in position or opposition, our positions on major issues such as dialogue and the issue of visa liberalization, we must have an approach otherwise and to lobby for the good of Kosovo “, she said

She emphasizes that the position and the opposition must come together to fulfill this process and the injustice done to our state.

“The citizens of Kosovo already understand that we have met all those conditions and criteria and it is not in the hands of any government, nor of this for the visa liberalization process, and this is an injustice,” concluded Kadriaj.

The Rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament, Viola Von Cramon after the visit of several days in Kosovo that the institutions have met all the criteria therefore it is up to the EU to adhere to the commitments.

Italian chief diplomat Luigi Di Maio has criticized the European Union for delaying visa liberalization for Kosovo.

Regarding visa liberalization, Di Maio has said that the EU is sometimes short-sighted.

He said that the citizens of Kosovo are the only ones who continue not to benefit from visa liberalization.

According to him, Kosovo has met all the conditions set by the European Commission for visa liberalization.

“EU accession should not become an unattainable miracle, but rather a real and tangible goal. I want to make it clear, unfortunately the EU is sometimes short-sighted. “Such an example is the case of Kosovo, whose citizens are the only ones from the entire region who continue not to benefit from visa liberalization even though all the conditions set by the European Commission have been met,” he said.

The Netherlands is among some of the European Union countries that are hindering the visa liberalization process for Kosovo. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Bo de Koning, in an exclusive response to KosovaPress has stated that the arguments offered by Kosovo institutions to fight corruption and organized crime have not been quite convincing so far.

Koning mentioned the last meeting of the Council of Europe in which there was not enough support for visa liberalization for Kosovo. Apart from the Netherlands, such a thing is being made more difficult by the attitudes of countries such as France and Belgium, which are seeking more concrete steps in combating these negative phenomena.

“So far, there is insufficient support in the Council for visa liberalization for Kosovo. As you know, visa liberalization is a technical process, which is guided by the standards that a country must meet in a sustainable manner, before the Council takes a decision on the abolition of visas. “When the European Commission recently reported on this issue, the Dutch state concluded that the conclusions on fighting corruption and organized crime at the highest level were not convincing enough,” Koning told KosovaPress.

Further, she announced that currently there is no planned visit of these delegations in Kosovo due to the formation of the new government in the Netherlands. However, she reiterated the readiness of this country to assist Kosovo in this process.

“Kosovo can count on our support through projects, advice and experts to achieve these sustainable results in combating these phenomena,” she added.

The spokeswoman for the Dutch diplomacy called the current government’s plans to fight corruption and organized crime at a high level encouraging.

“It is important for the Netherlands that high-level corruption is not only prosecuted, but that there is an effective enforcement of punishment for those responsible. “The government’s plans to fight corruption and organized crime are encouraging, so we are waiting to see the results, as this is one of their priorities,” Koning said.

Finally, she said that the governments of the Netherlands and Kosovo are in constant contact in Pristina through the relevant authorities.

At the last meeting of the Commission for European Integration, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi said that the problem for the visa liberalization process for Kosovo is not the five European Union countries that have not recognized Kosovo, but countries like France and the Netherlands, which are dissatisfied with Kosovo’s fight against crime and corruption.

Kosovo is the only country in the Western Balkans, which has no visa liberalization, despite ongoing efforts to meet the criteria set by the European Union for this process./Artina Muçiqi – KosovaPress /

Kosovo and Greece have recently intensified cooperation in several areas.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias is expected to arrive in Kosovo next week.

The Greek Foreign Ministry sent an e-mail stating the reasons for this visit, but ruled out the possibility of recognizing Kosovo as a state.

“Foreign Minister Dendias will visit Kosovo in early June for the formation of a new government in Kosovo. We remind you that Greece is supporting Kosovo’s European path and in this context is also supporting visa liberalization. Greece also contributes to Kosovo with a certain number of soldiers within KFOR. “But as you know, Greece does not recognize Kosovo and its position remains unchanged”, it is said in the response of the Greek MFA for RTV Dukagjini.

But the American expert David Phillips says that out of the five non-recognizing EU, Greece is the closest to recognizing Kosovo.

“Greece is very likely to recognize Kosovo, but we can not ignore the close ties between Greece and Serbia,” says Phillips.

But in Kosovo this issue is seen differently.

“Greece also sees its strategic interests. So Greece’s interests are bigger with Serbia than with Kosovo. “But this should not stop our lobbying work with the Greek government,” said Emir Abrashi from Democracy Plus. / Telegrafi /

Former Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti thanked German MEP Peter Beyer after the latter said that visa liberalization for Kosovo should happen now.

Through a Facebook post, Hoti stressed that Kosovo is blessed with the friends it has in the CDU and the Bundestag.

According to him, the LDK has contributed to building this friendship.

“Thank you Peter. Kosovo is blessed with the friends it has in the CDU and the Bundestag. “The Democratic League has made a vital contribution to building this friendship, which we must preserve,” he wrote.

Russia defeated Serbia in the first round, and in the second round it struggled for a long time with the outsiders Kazakhstan, but still in the end it reached a convincing triumph.

Serbia is, after the defeat by Hungary, hoped for a potential surprise, but in the end the victory went to favored Russia.

The Kazakhs held up well in the first 30 minutes of the game, which Russia decided in their favor 17:16.

In the continuation, however, Russia showed that it is a better team and recorded a victory worth placing in the Olympic tournament.

On Sunday, the matches of the third round are on the program, Serbia – Kazakhstan and Hungary – Russia, but without the significance of the result.

Hungary and Russia will play in Tokyo this summer, while Serbia and Kazakhstan were left without a place in the Olympic Games.