A local media in Kosovo is reporting that among the reasons the Netherlands refuses lifting the visa regime for Kosovo is because it is “not convinced” in the veracity of the battle against corruption.
KosovaPress cited an exclusive response from the spokesperson of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bo de Koning, which said that the argument offered by Kosovo’s institutions on their fight against corruption “has not been very convincing so far”.
Apart from the Netherlands, France and Belgium are also skeptical and seek concrete steps.
“When the EU Commission reported on the matter, the Netherlands concluded that the battle against corruption and tackling high-level organized crime was not convincing”, Koning said.
However, the ministry’s spokesperson affirmed that the country remains ready in assisting Kosovo in the visa liberalization process.
“Kosovo can count on our support through projects, advice, and experts in order to achieve consistent results in fighting these phenomena”, she added.
Furthermore, she described the plans of the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti as “encouraging”.
“For the Netherlands, it is important that high-level corruption is not only criminally prosecuted, but also have an efficient punishment for those responsible. The government’s plans to tackle corruption and organized crime are encouraging, that is why we are waiting to see the results since this is one of their priorities”, declared Koning.
Kosovo is the only country in the Western Balkans region that has a visa regime with the European Union.
The government has previously asserted that the main obstacles to the visa liberalization process are the stances of 5 member states that don’t recognize Kosovo – Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia, and Romania.
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