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File Name | S21-Policy-NCFCA-24-NEG-Kosovo.docx |
File Size | 210.84 KB |
Date added | January 25, 2021 |
Category | Archived |
Tags | Debate, NCFCA, Policy, Season 21 |
Author | Vance Trefethen |
Kosovo is (was) a province in what used to be the country of Yugoslavia. (People from there are known as “Kosovars.”) It is now a self-declared, though not officially recognized by everyone, independent country. It is recognized by about half the member nations of the UN, but its independence is officially disputed by Serbia, from which it departed. When Yugoslavia broke up and blew up in the 1990s, it was the scene of fierce ethnic conflict. Outside intervention and separation from Serbia got things calmed down. It is well on its way to recovery from the war of the ‘90s. Its economy is growing and it is trying to integrate into Europe more generally. This plan will have the EU grant 90-day visa-free travel for Kosovars to they can easily travel in and out of the EU for short visits (tourism, business trips, etc.). A visa is a formal document granting permission to visit the country that you would have to obtain in advance and apply for at a foreign embassy within your home country. You stick it into your passport and show it upon arrival at the destination country. Visas cost money and take time and paperwork to apply for, so traveling “visa free” is a benefit to tourism and trade. Visa-free travel is typically done for many other advanced countries where there is little risk of the visitors illegally staying and becoming a burden to society. For example, a US citizen can travel to France and enter without a visa for a stay up to 90 days, probably because there’s not a big influx of Americans at risk of trying to illegally immigrate or commit terrorism in France, so they don’t need to have a lot of pre-screening for American tourists. But Kosovo as of now is not on the visa-free list for entry into the EU, and this plan would put it on that list. Understand that this visa reform has nothing to do with immigration, because the Kosovars coming into the EU would only be able to stay for 90 days and could not settle in the EU nor apply for work. It’s only useful for tourism and short business trips, not for resettlement and immigration. Unless, that is, the Kosovars use the visas just to get into the EU and then illegally stay longer or start illegally applying for jobs.