8 May 2008 | The EU member states may liberalise the visa regime for Albania, while Croatia may do away with it altogether, national media reported recently.

The liberalisation of the EU’s visa regime towards Albania will take place after the country fulfils a list of requirements, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha told media on Wednesday, following his return from Brussels.

The first step of the process, according to the daily newspaper Panorama, will be the creation of a document in which all EU member states can list their requirements towards Albania.

As the Southeast European Times reported in March, one of the primary conditions that Albania will have to fulfil is document security, including biometrics. Other requirements include stepping up the fight against illegal migration and organised crime.

In addition, as the Koha Jonë daily newspaper recently reported, the EC visa liberalisation process may be helped along by a drop of visa requirements for Albanian citizens entering Croatia.

Following Albania’s President Bamir Topi’s recent meeting with Luka Bebić, the speaker of Croatia’s Parliament, Topi told media that such a measure will strengthen the contacts between the two countries while the free movement of people and goods will contribute to the bilateral cooperation and the development of the economic and tourism sectors.

The EU visa regime liberalisation is part of the Union’s general initiative to ease restrictions for the Western Balkan countries. It started a dialogue with Serbia on January 30 and continued with Macedonia and Montenegro in February.

Albanian citizens have enjoyed some benefits since the beginning of the year. Some categories of visitors, such as students, athletes, cultural workers and journalists enjoy easier visa access. In addition, the visa fee was lowered from 60 to 35 euros and visas that are valid for up to five years and allow multiple entries are now issued.