Albanian Wisdom European Parliament Backs Albania, Bosnia Visa Liberalisation

07 Oct 2010 / 01:05
The European Parliament approved on Thursday visa liberalisation for Bosnia and Albania, with 538 votes in favor and 47 against. Visa-free travel for Bosnians and Albanians now faces only one more approval process before becoming a reality.

Besar Likmeta
The European Parliament, EP, approved the report from Slovenian MEP Tania Fajon according to which both Bosnia and Albania have fulfilled the requirements under the visa liberalisation roadmap. Liberalisation would allow Albanian and Bosnian citizens to travel in the Schengen group of countries without a visa.
Albanian President Bamir Topi praised today's vote as a step forward for the country. He said: “I would like to thank the European Parliament for this historic decision, which opens the way for the freedom of movement for all Albanians, this deep aspiration of the Albanian people and its institutions.”
Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Macedonia, achieved visa liberalisation with the EU on December 16, 2009.Following the parliament’s approval, a decision by the EU council of interior ministers on whether to allow visa-free travel for Albanian and Bosnian citizens in the Schengen zone may be reached in early Novermber.Visas could be lifted by the end of the year.

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