The president of the Council of the Congress of Bosnian intellectuals of Kosovo, University professor mejdin Saliji, considers the decision of the Government of Kosovo to unilaterally abolish visas from 1 January 2025, i.e. to allow entry and free movement of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina only with an ID card, justified, in the hope that Bosnia and Herzegovina will follow the same example, writes etto.ba the broadcast Express.
He recalls that this issue has been current for several years, and that the citizens and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo did not intend to hinder the circulation of people, goods and services.
“The Government of Kosovo, politicians, civil society, intellectuals are doing everything for the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina to respect reciprocity and enable the citizens of Kosovo to travel visa-free,” Saliji said.
He points out that BiH signed agreements within the Berlin Process that citizens of both countries travel visa-free and that all countries are obliged to ratify that agreement in their parliaments, but Bosnia and Herzegovina never did so for Kosovo.
“The Kosovo Assembly immediately ratified the agreements. However, the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has announced that visas will be removed and that citizens of BiH can travel with an ID card from January 1, 2025, regardless of whether BiH will do the same,” says Saliji.
” The ball is now in the field of BiH, ” he emphasizes, and according to him, BiH is the one that should implement adequate reciprocity towards the citizens of Kosovo and respect the obligations taken.
He believes that the mediators in this case may be the delegation of the European Union in Kosovo and the embassies of The Quint States, should increase the pressure on Bosnia and Herzegovina in all international events and condition the path towards the EU, which without assuming the obligations regarding the ratification of the agreement, it is not possible to move forward towards Euro-Atlantic integration and impose sanctions, especially on the subject of “Republika Srpska”, which is blocking the process and not allowing the ratification of the agreement.
“Also, Bosniak and Croat politicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina should include this issue in the functioning of the state coalition, as well as condition Rs politicians to put this issue on the agenda, because this does not only benefit the citizens, but also the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the entity of RS above all,” says Saliji.
The state of Serbia, he recalls, has allowed Kosovo citizens to travel with Kosovo IDs without recognizing their citizenship, and Bosnia and Herzegovina still cannot do this which is absurd.
