Slovenia urges EU to assist Bosnia, Albania for visa regime

TIRANA, Sep 15 – Most recently, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said that the Commission would recommend visa liberalization for Albania no earlier than mid-2010 if the two countries would be able to fulfill the road map requests.
That naturally sparked anger among the populations of the two countries feeling themselves sidelined or discriminated.
But that also seems to have urged many countries of the European Union to call for reconsidering such a decision.
After Italy, it is now Slovenia that is making calls to Brussels to assist the two countries so that they speed up efforts toward visa free regime.
Brussels decided last July that only the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro and Serbia would enjoy the visa free regime starting Jan. 1, 2010. Albania and Bosnia were told to continue their reforms while Kosovo was not mentioned at all.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Ϣogar has called on EU members to help Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania meet the criteria for visa abolition.
“That’s very important for Bosnia, for the stability of the state and the region,” Ϣogar told a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, the STA agency reports.
The EU has adopted a proposal to scrap visas for Serbia, FYROM and Montenegro, which was “very positively received in the region, but which, at the same time, drew an adverse reaction in Bosnia-Herzegovina,” said the minister.
Slovenia sent a delegation to Bosnia-Herzegovina in August to see what kind of assistance could be afforded, and offered consultancy services to Bosnian consular personnel in early September.
Ljubljana called on all EU member-states yesterday to find a way of helping Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania in order to maximize progress by the October progress report and to assist them in meeting the criteria for visa abolition straight after Serbia, FYROM and Montenegro.