Fifth Report under the Visa Suspension Mechanism

Summary:

Report published by the European Commission on 6 December 2022, assessing the fulfilment of requirements by the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries relating to visa liberalisation.

Further information:

The Visa Suspension Mechanism exempts third-country nationals from the visa requirement for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 requires the European Commission to monitor the continuous fulfilment of visa liberalisation requirements by third countries and to report it at least once a year. These reports have been published since 2017, covering the visa-free countries in the Western Balkans - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia - and in the Eastern Partnership - Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

This fifth report assesses action taken in 2021, with updates for 2022, where deemed relevant to have a significant impact on the recommendations. It also reports on operational cooperation with the European Union (EU) and with Member States, and it includes an overview of migration trends, including changes compared with 2020.

The document was published by the European Commission on 6 December 2022. It is accompanied by a Staff Working Document providing additional information on the actions taken by the partner countries in cooperation with the EU and with Member States bilaterally.

Official

European Commission: Press Release, 05/12/2022: Visa suspension report: requirements for visa-free continue to be fulfilled but immediate steps are needed on alignment with EU visa policy https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_7411

European Commission: Questions and Answers – Fifth report on the EU visa-free regime with Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries (5 December 2022) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_22_7412

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