Visa liberalisation for Kosovo

Question for written answer  E-000554/2021
to the Council
Rule 138
Lukas Mandl (PPE)

Kosovars are the only citizens in the Western Balkans who still need a visa to travel to the Schengen zone. Since July 2018, the Commission has confirmed several times that Kosovo meets all the required benchmarks for visa liberalisation. Parliament has also expressed its support on multiple occasions and called on the Council to urgently adopt a decision on visa liberalisation for Kosovars. Nevertheless, the Council – or rather a small minority of Member States – is refusing to give its green light and is consequently damaging the EU’s credibility. In the light of this, I would like to ask the following questions:

• 1.Are there any concrete plans to move forward with visa liberalisation for Kosovo during the Portuguese Presidency?
• 2.Which Member States are blocking/have blocked visa liberalisation and on what grounds?