albania to become next visa free addition
News Posted On: 07 December 2009
European Commission (EC) Vice-President Jacques Barrot has apparently told Prime Minister Sali Berisha that he supports Albania's visa liberalisation process. The statements were made during a telephone briefing on Albania's progress towards meeting the criteria for visa liberalisation, according to a "source close to the government".
Albanian Interior Minister Lulzim Basha has said his country will soon become part of the visa-free regime because it has met many of the requirements. Basha noted that in just six months, Albania has issued 300,000 biometric passports, and installed control systems at border crossings in compliance with European security standards. His statements came at the ceremony to celebrate Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro's acceptance into the visa-free program.
Of the three Montenegro will benefit most because it is the only one of the three not landlocked, and has beautiful beaches and coastline to attract tourists. Albania would also benefit massively from visa-free EU travel.
Albania is a popular destination for property investment, but this is currently done on the basis of residential letting and long-term capital appreciation, because the tourism industry is very immature. Albania's addition to the visa-free program would undoubtedly be a huge boost to Albanian tourism.
It would also be a clear sign that, yes, Albania is on track and meeting EU requirements, this would indicate that Albania's full accession to the EU may well go ahead as planned by 2014. EU membership would be a massive boost to the Albanian property market and economy.
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