Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-09-16-Speech-3-191"
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"en.20090916.17.3-191"2
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"As you probably know, I am rapporteur for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs regarding visa liberalisation for the Western Balkan countries.
In July, the European Commission sent us a proposal recommending the lifting of visa requirements for citizens of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro. Macedonia has already fulfilled all its obligations, whereas Montenegro and Serbia are required to meet the remaining conditions as soon as possible.
Although I very much welcome the Commission’s proposal and appreciate the demanding nature of this work, I am disappointed by the fact that this document has totally omitted the remaining countries, without even giving them a timetable of any kind.
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania are using a clear roadmap for the lifting of visa requirements and are aware of all the conditions that need to be met before that can happen. Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular, achieved great progress on this score during the summer, judging by reports from independent organisations.
The decision to omit Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania from the list is primarily a technical one. We are all well aware that even the best technical decisions can have major political consequences. The fact is that it is the Bosniaks who have been omitted from the visa liberalisation process.
We must all take on a share of political responsibility for the implementation of this process, which will be a prerequisite for peace and stability in the Western Balkans. We also urgently need to think about initiating the visa dialogue with Kosovo, as that will help advance structural reforms.
Ladies and gentlemen, we must not put ourselves in the position of putting the brakes on the lifting of visa requirements for all the countries of the Western Balkans which have a clear European perspective. Visa liberalisation in the Western Balkans is not a jigsaw puzzle with which you might wish to amuse yourselves. We are dealing with people here, with their quality of life and mobility, and facilitating the closest cooperation possible, not least, economic cooperation."@en1
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