Visa-free travel, a year later

TIRANA, Jan. 06 – A year after the liberalization of the visa regime, Albanians have really felt what it is to be European.
Since mid-December 2010 Europe’s Schengen member countries allowed Albanian citizens to enjoy the visa liberalization like all the other Balkan countries.
There are no official figures from the government, but it is generally believed that at least more than one million Albanians have exercised their new freedom of movement. Now Albanians may go freely to almost all of Europe, including some other countries like Switzerland that are not in the bloc.
During the post-communist or transitory period it was a limiting hassle to seek a visa to the EU countries any time one wished to travel there. It also turned into a big source of corruption for many people, often also foreigners who worked here; as those with means often provided illegal opportunities for others to travel.
Now, a year after the removal of visa requirements for Albanians traveling to the Schengen zone, the corruption schemes have been rendered meaningless, and Albanians have been able to travel and experience Europe on their own terms for up to 90 days.
But have Albanians respected the rules?
Generally yes; though toward the end of the summer, western European countries, like Belgium, began to complain that hundreds of Albanians started to apply for asylum there.
That raised their serious concern and brought about the threat of the reinstatement of the visa regime.
A senior Belgian official came to Tirana to warn the authorities and the people to respect the rules and not to apply for asylum because it would not be accepted. They said such people would not only be turned back but they would also be stripped of the visa rights for the next five years.
Albanian authorities responded in kind. They immediately sued some representatives of civic organizations and also officials in the local authorities in the north who issued fake documents as if those Albanians asking for asylum were threatened by blood feud problems back home.
The Slovenian European parliamentarian Tanya Fayon, who was the main supporter and played a key role in the visa liberalization procedure, also warned Albanians and the others not to give reasons that could legitimize conservative voices in Europe that called against the visa liberalization.
Yet, in addition to this issue, there comes another question which is useful to consider: From the Albanian perspective, was European integration linked only with the visa liberalization?
Naturally not, but that should probably be better understood from the government and the politicians.
Albanians’ part in that is to press them when elections come. Albanians themselves naturally do want to be part of Europe for reasons more than free movement, though their support in that big project has fallen compared to a year ago, as polls show.
Their leaders and politicians should, however, work and not only speak of the European integration.