The Diplomat
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares assured yesterday that Spain will not apply the elimination of short-stay visas for Kosovar citizens, despite the EU support for the exemption of these visas, because our country “does not recognize Kosovo and does not recognize Kosovar passports”.
“Spain has a traditional policy of non-recognition of Kosovo and that traditional policy leads to non-recognition of Kosovar passports and it is something that we have been applying consistently already for many years and it is well known,” Albares told the press in Berlin, during his official visit to Germany. In any case, the minister reiterated that “Spain will never be an obstacle, on the contrary, to the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina”.
Kosovo, a potential candidate for EU membership, unilaterally declared its independence in February 2008. Five member states – Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Greece, Romania and Slovakia – do not recognize its independence.
Last Tuesday, the European Parliament ruled in favor of allowing Kosovo citizens to travel to the EU – as well as EU citizens to Kosovo – without a visa for up to 90 days per 180-day period. The legal text was initialed the following day in Strasbourg by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council. Once the change comes into force, the entire Western Balkans region will have a visa regime similar to that of the Schengen area. The European Parliament supports the abolition of visas for Kosovars since 2016, after the European Commission declared that the criteria of the visa liberalization roadmap had been met.
