Visa liberalisation for Western Balkans countries
On 30 November the Council for Justice and Home Affairs decided to grant visa free travel to and throughout the Schengen area for citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
It did so by adopting amendments to regulation No 539/2001. The visa waiver will apply from 19 December 2009 to holders of biometric passports. The European Parliament and the Council recognise that the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia fulfill all conditions for visa liberalisation.
Visa liberalization will be applicable also to travel to Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus. These states are not in the Schengen area, but respect Schengen acquis as well.
Great Britain and Ireland do not apply the regulation No 539/2001 therefore the citizens of former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia would still need to apply for British, resp. Irish visa in order to visist these two countries, irrespective if they are holders of biometric passport or not.
Citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia with no biometrical travel documents have to apply for a visa in the same way as they were used to. Same applies to the holders of Serbian travel documents issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate (Koordinaciona uprava), who are not exempted from the visa requirement.
The European Parliament and the Council express the hope that Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina will also qualify for visa liberalisation soon.