BiH and Albania expects visa-free regime by year end

The European Parliament (EP) took a long-awaited step earlier this month, endorsing the European Commission's (EC) proposal to abolish visas for BiH and Albanian citizens by year's end. The EU Council of Ministers will have a final say at its meeting on November 8th and 9th.
In BiH, the mood is jubilant."We expect the EU interior and justice ministers to confirm the European Parliament's decision. The signals we received [suggest] the decision will be positive," BiH Ambassador to the EU Osman Topcagic told SETimes.

The majority of EP members voted in favour of the European Commission's initiative -- which concluded last May. It affirmed that BiH met the requirements in the requisite fields for abolishing visas -- security, illegal migration and crime."The EP gave strong support, 538 deputies voted in favour, so I think that BiH is ready.The fact that now some would open new dilemmas would only mean a political intensification of the situation," EP Rapporteur for Visa Regime Liberalisation Tanya Fajon said.
France, Denmark and the Netherlands, however, have asked for additional security guarantees from BiH to support the visa-free regime.

News source: SETimes link: article