The European Commission (EC) has warned on Monday that in some member countries of the European Union there is a large increase in the number of unfounded requests for asylum from citizens of Kosovo, in the first year after the lifting of the visa regime.

However, Kosovo in general continues to fulfill the criteria for visa liberalization, the EC said in its latest report in the framework of “mechanisms for the suspension of visa liberalization”.

The European Commission compiles such reports for all countries enjoying visa liberalization to see if there is a need to consider the possibility of restoring the visa regime.

This is the first time that Kosovo is included in such a report since the EU removed visas for citizens of Kosovo on January 1 of this year.

From January to July of this year, an average of over 550 Kosovars have sought asylum in European countries every month.

This figure is significantly higher than the average in the past six years.