PRISHTINA, Oct. 11 – In the context of Kosovo’s stalled visa liberation process, Kosovo President Hashim Thaà§i brought up the possibility of granting Kosovo citizens Albanian citizenship in a meeting with his Albanian counterpart, Ilir Meta.
The two leaders held a press conference during which Meta said that Kosovo’s road to visa liberalization should be separate from the demarcation agreement, while Thaà§i said he’d discussed with Meta the possibility of granting many Kosovo citizens Albanian citizenship in order to travel more freely.
Kosovo – whose citizens are only able to travel to five countries without a visa – is currently the most isolated country in the Western Balkans.
“The European Union has brought Kosovo to a classic position of isolation, in particular with the issue of visa liberalization,” Thaà§i said.
His statement refers to the EU’s requirement of the ratification of the demarcation agreement between Kosovo and Montenegro for Kosovo to achieve visa liberalization.
Moreover, Thaà§i said he and Meta discussed the developments in the region, Albania’s support of Kosovo and the citizenship of Kosovo citizens.
More specifically, Thaà§i said: “I have asked President Meta that Kosovo’s citizens, especially students and businessmen, to be granted Albanian citizenship in order for them to travel freely. This is predicted both in the Kosovo Constitution, and the Albanian one.”
Replying both to Kosovo’s isolation and Thaà§i’s request, Meta said that “concerning the visa liberation, this couldn’t be a more difficult moment for the Albanian President, as there are countless requests to grant various individuals citizenship, just so they can escape this isolation. I have had a meeting with the Director for Enlargement and other personalities, with whom we have noted the importance of ending this isolation and discrimination Kosovo citizens experience as the only people in the Western Balkans who cannot travel.”
The demarcation agreement between Kosovo and Montenegro aimed to recognize the borders between the countries. However, the issue of the ratification of the agreement has given rise to tension between the elite in Kosovo and opposition leaders, who claim this agreement will lead Kosovo to lose territory.
De-alignment of the border hasn’t progressed in the past two years, thus considerably slowing down Kosovo’s road to full international recognition.
Even though Meta stressed the “further commitment in strengthening Kosovo’s independence and realization of its European future aspirations” , he did not give a direct positive response to Thaà§i’s request, rather stating that Kosovo’s isolation problem should be dealt with as a whole and that focus should be nevertheless given to the ratification of the demarcation agreement.
He also added that “the solution is not for all citizens of Kosovo to be granted citizenship.”
Indeed, it is unclear how much Albania, whose high number of political asylum seekers has already been raising eyebrows and whose visa policy has been brought into question by EU member states, can do to help Kosovo, without compromising its own EU accession conditionality.
An investigation made by BIRN showed that the number of foreigners (Kosovo citizens especially) who were granted Albanian citizenship through the ‘special interest’ criteria has risen since 2011, the year Albania obtained visa-free travel rights in the EU. A big reason Kosovo’s visa liberalization process is being stalled is its statehood status, at is still not recognized by 5 EU countries and contested by Serbia.
