During a press conference at the occasion of President Ilir Meta’s visit to Kosovo, Kosovar President Hashim Thaçi proposed that Albania would give Albanian citizenship to Kosovar citizens in order to circumvent the visa requirements currently in place.
Kosovo clearly has its aim and its own vision that it will be part of NATO and the EU. But because currently the EU has brought a classic form of isolation of the free movement of people, I also discussed with the President [Meta] that the only hope at this moment for the citizens of Kosovo to move freely is that in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of Albania and in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of Kosovo the citizens of Kosovo are given [Albanian] citizenship, especially students, businessmen, and people in need. It is an immediate necessity that the citizens of Kosovo are given citizenship so they can move inside Europe.
Kosovo is the last country in Europe of which the citizens require visa to travel freely inside the Schengen zone. Ratifying a border agreement with Montenegro is one of the requirements to start the process of visa liberalization.
President Meta, however, refused to agree to President Thaçi proposition:
Related to the question of visa liberalization there cannot be at this moment a more difficult position than that of the President of the Republic of Albania to speak about this issue. For the reason that there are endless pressures and requests by personalities and citizens of Kosovo to receive the citizenship of the Republic of Albania with the main aim to escape this blockade that in which the citizens of Kosovo find themselves unjustly for years. […]
The best answer is to solve this together. The solution is not that everyone receives citizenship, but the solution is to overcome this problem.
If the Albanian government at some point would decide to give out Albanian citizenship to Kosovar nationals, this would most certainly threaten the current visa exemption status of Albania.
