Until recently, the scenes in front of the doors of the embassies of Western countries in Kosovo were filled with citizens. Those who wanted to travel abroad were forced to wait in long lines and go through a long and arduous process to secure a visa to the countries in the Shenggen area.
Now the situation is different. From January next year, Kosovo becomes part of the visa-free travel regime, the last of the countries in the Western Balkans.
On April 19, the European Parliament signed the legal act for the liberalization of visas for the citizens of Kosovo, which also marked the last step in the visa liberalization process.
Citizens with whom Voice of America spoke say that liberalization will be beneficial for the country
“It will bring liberalization and facilities for every field or sector of economic and social life in our country, starting from the field of sports, culture, education and education because the various university, sports, cultural exchanges will increase significantly and will be facilitated and this 24-year suffering of Kosovars waiting in foreign embassies has ended and I think it is a new era which factors the citizenship of Kosovo”, said Asdren Bytyqi, a lawyer by profession.
“This has been much better for the careers of us young people and for education, work or professionalism to achieve compared to careers in Europe, I saw there how things work even though theoretically we have days, but now this is an opportunity to see practically”, Tanzu Sylejmani, director by profession.
According to a survey conducted by the online newspaper “Shegenvisa” with the citizens of Kosovo, it is said that over 80 percent of respondents have travel plans for 2024, after the liberalization of visas, while the main destinations were Germany and Switzerland. The remaining 20 percent of respondents who are undecided or will not travel in 2024 cite financial reasons for their decision.
The authorities in Kosovo have organized a campaign of several weeks for the correct information of the citizens on the facilities and restrictions brought by the liberalization of visas.
The regime means the possibility of visa-free travel for up to 90 days, within six months, in any of the member states of the Schengen area, but it is not a work permit.
“I call on all citizens of Kosovo to respect all the rules that are part of this visa liberalization system,” said President Vjosa Osmani.
But, in addition to the benefits of visa-free travel, businesses in Kosovo have expressed concern about the possibility of leaving the workforce.
The President of the Chamber of Commerce of Kosovo, Lulzim Rafuna, told Voice of America that it has already been two years since concerns started with the departure of workers to European countries.
“Even now with the liberalization of visas, although this is not a liberalization for jobs or to go to work, it is a liberalization for tourism purposes, which is a right that has been denied to us, but we as the Chamber of Commerce do not expect an exemption let’s say massive, that Kosovo will be emptied because we have quite a large number where the last 2-3 years have been gone. Unfortunately, we are suffering from the lack of statistics on how many are leaving and how many are returning,” said Mr. Rafuna.
Lulzim Rafuna, Chamber of Commerce of Kosovo
Mr. Rafuna says that construction and gastronomy are the two sectors that have been most affected by the departure of workers, while asking the government of Kosovo to draw up a plan that would prevent the departure of young people.
“In my opinion, this is a problem that probably falls into the category of National Security, for the reason that youth has been an asset that all of us who have been leaders of institutions are proud of and have used as a value that Kosovo has for to motivate investors to come and invest in Kosovo. Now we are losing this asset, so we have to consider it, to look at the longer term situation, not just look at the next six months or a year or two years next”, said Mr. Rafuna.
In a report published by the “Riinvest Institute” in Pristina regarding the dynamics of the labor market, it is stated that the migration of employees remains the main problem faced by businesses in the country. The report released a month ago states that 17.59 percent of businesses said their employees informed them they would emigrate next year, and overall, businesses expect about 33 percent of employees may migrate after January.