Slovenia, Italy call for Albania, Bosnia visa liberalization

TIRANA – Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar and his Italian counterpart, Franco Frattini, on Wednesday urged the European Union to complete the visa liberalization process for Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina by the end of autumn.
The initiative comes after the European Commission said last week that Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina have met all the necessary requirements.
In a letter to Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanacker, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, the ministers called for the EU expansion process to the Western Balkans to continue.
They believe an opinion on Serbia’s application for membership should be drawn up by October and that Montenegro and Albania should be assigned the status of candidates for membership in the coming months.
The ministers would also like to see the beginning of membership talks with Macedonia, and completion of accession negotiations with Croatia by early 2011.
This is the fourth letter to a presiding EU country in which the two ministers express support to the region and highlight the importance of regional initiatives such as the Brdo Process, the ministry said.
Earlier this week EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom said that Albania had fulfilled the technical requirements needed for visa liberalization
A decision by the EU council of interior ministers, on whether to allow Schengen zone travel for Albanian and Bosnian citizens, could come as early as October, following the commission’s recommendation. Visas could be lifted by the end of the year.