Albania, Macedonia working to lift visas

TIRANA, Feb. 5 – Tirana and Skopje declared Tuesday they fully agreed to lift the visa for their citizens in a deal that will likely be concluded during the Macedonian Prime Minister Nicola Gruevski to Albania later this year.
Teams of experts from both countries held two days of meeting in Skopje releasing a joint statement at the end saying they were discussing on a new agreement of a free-visa regime and no entrance tax between the two countries.
That deal would make possible citizens of both countries entering or staying up to 90 days in six months to the other country.
Residents in areas 20 kilometers close to the border will have special facilitates as well.
The draft deal will first be introduced to the proper authorities in both countries and it is expected to be signed in Tirana by the two premiers during Gruevski’s official visit at a date to be agreed this month.
The experts considered such a new regime as a “very important political one that would further strengthen friendly relations” and the new visa-free regime would also support development of both countries.
They were convinced that “freedom of movement was a fundamental development for further strengthening the major efforts of both countries toward integration into the Euro-Atlantic processes.”
Until the implementation of the new agreement, the current regime for the Albanian citizens getting it at the border would be prolonged.
Last month there sparked a great furor in Albania after learning that Skopje would impose a visa regime taken at its embassy in Tirana only for the Albanian citizens.
Albanians harshly protested against it especially after also learning that European Union had not set any condition for that to Skopje, which is a step closer to EU trying to become an official candidate for membership.
Many Albanians, including the ethnic minority in Macedonia, often mentioned that was not fair on the part of Skopje which was first recognized as an independent state by Tirana and Albania has also offered many other facilities to its neighbor.
Macedonia has a 25 percent ethnic Albanian minority.