EU will Visazwang für Serben abschaffen

19.1.2008 by admin.

Freie Einreise : EU will Visazwang für Serben abschaffen
Die EU hat den Serben den Verzicht auf Einreisevisa in Aussicht gestellt. Besitzer eines serbischen Passes könnten dann ohne Beschränkungen in die Union einreisen - für die Bewohner des Kosovo gilt dies allerdings nicht.
EU-Justizkommissar Franco Frattini hat den Beginn von Verhandlungen über visafreie Einreise in die EU beschlossen, sagte ein Kommissionssprecher in Brüssel. Diese sollten am 30. Januar beginnen. Wann dies zur Abschaffung des Visazwangs für Serben führe, sei allerdings noch nicht abzusehen.
…Die Abschaffung des Visazwangs soll für Besitzer serbischer Pässe gelten. Dies würde bedeuten, dass jene Bürger der abtrünnigen serbischen Provinz Kosovo, die über Reisedokumente der Vereinten Nationen verfügen, nicht davon profitieren könnten.

Weiter lesen unter folgendem Link:

Die Zeit

Ahead of vote, EU offers Serbs visa-free prospect
Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:59am EST
By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Days before presidential polls in Serbia pitting a pro-EU liberal against a nationalist, the European Union announced on Friday it would launch discussions on offering Serbs visa-free access to the bloc.

“We are going to start at a technical level at the end of this month,” European Commission spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing told a news briefing, adding that similar talks with other Western Balkan stakes would begin in coming weeks and months.

Abbing said he could not say how long it would take to conclude the talks with Serbia and that strict assessments would be made to ensure it met criteria. But he said technical preparations were at a stage to allow the talks to proceed.

The announcement comes at a highly sensitive time in EU-Serbia ties, with Belgrade angry at broad Western support for the independence claim of its breakaway Kosovo province — whose likely imminent secession is a top issue in the elections.
………..Opinion polls show that the dream of traveling around Europe without a visa, and for incomes high enough to pay for such adventures, are the top two reasons most Serbs want their country to join the European Union.

But Serbia’s bid to enter the bloc has run into problems over its failure to hand over war crimes suspects for trial.

The Slovenian EU Presidency and many EU states want to sign a pact with Serbia on January 28 as a first step to EU entry, to boost pro-EU parties at the expense of nationalists in the election run-off.

But unanimity among the 27 EU states is needed, and the Netherlands insisted again on Wednesday it wanted Serbia to hand over indicted war criminal Ratko Mladic to the U.N. tribunal in The Hague before it would support the move.

United Nations war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz will meet EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn later to discuss Belgrade’s cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

(Editing by Andrew Roche)

Reuters

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