New EU condition: Bosnia and Herzegovina to introduce visa regime with Russia, China and Turkey
Bosnia and Herzegovina is to introduce a visa regime for citizens of Russia, Turkey, China and a number of other countries to comply with the visa policy of the European Union (EU). This was stated by the director of the European Commission for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations Gert Jan Kopman, who quotes Bosnian publication Nezavisne novine.
Kopman emphasized that the introduction of the visa regime for citizens of these states is one of the conditions necessary for the countries of the Western Balkans to receive 6 billion euros from the European Commission as part of the Development Plan. He recalled that earlier during the negotiations on reforms, the countries of the region expressed their readiness to work more actively on the issues of security, migration and border crossing control.
“Countries have pledged to strengthen security measures and better control the flow of people from countries whose citizens do not need a visa to enter”, Kopman noted.
As Nezavisne novine reports, this issue is not new, but now, in the context of EU development aid, it has taken on new significance. Earlier, in 2023, Brussels had already appealed to Bosnia and Herzegovina to introduce a visa regime for Russian citizens, as the country is a candidate for EU membership and must comply with EU security standards.
It is worth noting that after the EU canceled visas for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country undertook to harmonize its visa policy with the rules of the Schengen zone, which provides for the introduction of visa requirements for certain states, as required by the policy of the European Union.
