EU eyes 2007 visa deal for Balkan citizens

Citizens from the Balkans will be able to travel to the EU more easily under proposals that will be discussed by EU foreign ministers next week.

Ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday (13 November) will discuss easing EU visa application procedures for citizens of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

They will agree a mandate for the Commission to negotiate the details of the final deal - expected to be finalised in 2007. This would cut the number of papers needed to get a visa, reduce waiting times and possibly scrap fees altogether.

The Commission is expected to receive a wide mandate to negotiate the agreement easing visa restrictions for all citizens, not just students, businessmen or diplomats.

Although such measures have been under discussion since 2003, concerns that it would prompt a wave of migration to EU countries and the spread of organised crime have made a deal impossible until now.

"A few months ago we did not know this was possible," said one EU official, describing the differences of opinion among member states.

There are still concerns that passports in some of the Balkan countries are too easy to forge and that issuing offices are not electronically linked, meaning there is no clear record of passports issued.

"On some of the passports the photo can be steamed off," said one EU diplomat.

EU member states are likely to demand that a series of safeguard measures be put in place before visa demands are relaxed. These include linking border monitoring posts and passport agencies.

The EU is also demanding that each country sign a readmission agreement, which gives the EU the right to return migrants who arrive in the EU via the Balkans, regardless of nationality.

Although fears remain, there is increasing pressure for the EU to lift restrictions in order to dispel the impression that EU enlargement has stalled.

Antonio Miloöoski, Macedonia’s foreign minister, said that an agreement would send a significant message to the countries of the region that the EU is serious about building ties.

"This is something that would make us feel like Europe is small," he said.

Miloöoski added that easing visa rules should be the first step towards scrapping visas altogether.

The EU has frequently been accused of what one NGO described as "consular sadism", subjecting citizens of the western Balkans to strict visa procedures.

In the EU there is concern about growing nationalism in the region fuelled by harsh visa procedures and the inability of citizens to travel to western Europe.

As many as 70% of Serbian university students and 50% of all Serbs have never left the country.

Citizens from the Balkans will be able to travel to the EU more easily under proposals that will be discussed by EU foreign ministers next week.