EC Director to Visit Belgrade

Pierre Mirel, Director of the European Commission’s Enlargement Unit for the Western Balkans will visit Belgrade on 11 May for talks, reports Danas.

The paper highlights an expected meeting with Serbia’s interior minister Ivica Dacic, in which Mirel is expected to have talks about the Commission’s upcoming report on Serbia’s readiness for visa liberalisation.

The paper says the EC may announce the dates it will publish a report on the Western Balkan countries’ progress towards a visa-free regime. 

According to the paper, the countries most likely to receive favourable reports are Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro. The paper speculates that a recommendation for Serbia’s visa liberalisation could come in June, which is why officials in Belgrade are reporting that restrictions could be lifted by end of 2009, or the start of 2010, at the latest.

After the report is issued, an EU working group for the Balkans will discuss it, and if there are no major concerns of its findings, in early June, the EC may send an official recommendation for Serbia to join the so-called white list, the paper says.

That would mean that Serbian citizens may be able to travel around Europe, without visas, by 1 January, 2010.