Recent changes to European Union visa rules could impact visa-free travel for countries in the Western Balkans if they backslide on democratic or human rights commitments, European lawmakers warned this week.
EU institutions have reached a political agreement to amend the bloc’s 2018 visa regulation, introducing new grounds for suspending visa exemptions for third countries. While not targeting any specific country, the new rules widen the EU’s ability to respond to emerging political or security concerns.
“All countries that currently benefit from a visa-free regime with the EU should pay attention and not backtrack on their commitments and already achieved progress,” said Matjaž Nemec, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for the new regulation, in an interview with European Western Balkans.
All six Western Balkan countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia – currently enjoy visa-free access to the EU’s Schengen Area for short stays of up to 90 days.
Under existing rules, the European Commission can trigger a suspension of visa-free travel in response to increased irregular migration, reduced cooperation on readmission, or security risks linked to a specific third country.
The amended regulation expands the list of grounds to include hybrid threats such as the instrumentalisation of migrants, investor citizenship schemes (commonly known as “golden passports”), and a lack of alignment with the EU’s visa policy.
New provisions, introduced by the European Parliament, also allow suspension in cases of “serious breaches of international human rights or humanitarian law, violations of the UN Charter, and failure to comply with decisions by international courts,” according to the agreed text.
In addition, the Commission will be able to block member states from exempting holders of diplomatic or service passports from future visa suspensions — a measure aimed at preventing government officials from circumventing restrictions.
Nemec said the reform addresses a gap in the current framework that did not allow the EU to respond to changing geopolitical realities.
“In the EP, we wanted to close this legal gap… We believe the EU needs political and legal tools to respond to emerging challenges and threats, including in visa policy,” he told European Western Balkans, citing concerns over recent developments in Georgia and Israel.
A formal vote in the European Parliament on the regulation is expected in October. Once approved, the changes would apply to all third countries with visa-free access to the EU.
“The visa policy should serve not just as a travel facilitation tool, but also as a deterrent mechanism and a promoter of European values abroad,” Nemec said.