The European Parliament: We call on the EU to liberalize the visa policies for Kosovo.

For citizens of the EU member states only


Our biggest dream was to make Kosovo independent, but we never thought that dream would isolate us here." 


Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stands for freedom of movement. Under the current visa restrictions, this human right of the Kosovan people is being violated. Kosovars need to go through tedious visa applications which far too often result in the denial of a visa, even to visit neighboring countries. Kosovo is the  only country in the Balkans that needs a visa to travel to the Schengen zone  and has the  highest percentage of visa refusals in the Balkans : about 25% of the applications are rejected. Reasons to refuse a visa include being a single woman, out of fear that a woman might find a husband in the EU. The benchmarks for visa liberalization in Kosovo are significantly higher than those for other Balkan countries. As a result,  Kosovo is one of the most isolated countries in the world , more isolated than North Korea. Most Kosovars just want to visit Europe, to travel, see the world, to visit friends and family. 

If you would ask Kosovars what hinders them most in achieving their dreams and ambitions, many would mention the current visa restrictions. How can you become more tolerant and open towards your Serb/Albanian neighbors if your neighboring countries are not open to you? Given that the European Union is responsible for the isolation of Kosovo, and given that the European Union is a democratic institution in which ultimately, its citizens have a say, then is it not  our responsibility as European citizens to call for visa liberalization ?

Lifting the isolation will enable the Kosovars, from all ethnicities, to  re claim their human right  and to see the various beautiful faces of the world. 

Join us in our fight for visa liberalization for Kosovo and  sign the petition!