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Bloggers to Brussels: tear down the visa wall!
24/04/2009
In the Yugoslav era, Macedonians had considerable freedom of travel. Now they await an easing of the EU's visa regime.
By Balkanblogs for Southeast European Times -- 24/04/09
Bloggers discuss the ongoing visa regime in Macedonia
Macedonians continue to spend over 5m euros annually on hard-to-obtain visas for travel to EU countries, and the prospects for change remain unclear. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said during a recent visit to Skopje that Macedonia has fulfilled all the conditions for visa liberalisation.
Nevertheless, EU parliamentarian Doris Pack, former Balkan mediator Carl Bildt and others have downplayed the prospects, saying visa restrictions will likely remain in place until 2010 and even beyond.
The topic is a hot one in Macedonia, where many lay the blame on neighbouring Greece -- which enjoys veto power as an EU member -- for stalling the process. Bloggers debate the issue with vigour, offering a representative sampling of opinion within the country.
Under the current system, 70% of Macedonians between the ages of 16 and 30 have not been to an EU member state, with the exception of Greece and Bulgaria. This "speaks volumes about their being cut off from their European fellow citizens", writes G.Jankovski.
The situation is in stark contrast to the pre-independence days, when Yugoslav documents were in hot demand on the black market due to the mobility they provided.
"Twenty years ago, Macedonians could travel everywhere with Yugoslav passports and without visas," recalls Firewall, commenting at the blog Facta non Verba. "Today, we are those same Macedonians but with an imposed visa barrier."
"Macedonians are asking to get what they had in the recent past, when they could travel freely throughout the world, nothing more," agrees THEMAC3DONIAN.
Many believe that the country labours under an unfair standard, one higher than that required even for some current EU members. The country is among the first to implement biometric passports, TPH notes, and has enacted other requirements set by Brussels. The current situation, he adds, is at odds with the EU's "often-proclaimed slogans of 'Europe without borders' and 'equality'".
"We have heard these slogans for 18 years, but two generations of Macedonians who effectively live in a ghetto cannot experience them," Firewall concludes.
:salut:
24/04/2009
In the Yugoslav era, Macedonians had considerable freedom of travel. Now they await an easing of the EU's visa regime.
By Balkanblogs for Southeast European Times -- 24/04/09
Bloggers discuss the ongoing visa regime in Macedonia
Macedonians continue to spend over 5m euros annually on hard-to-obtain visas for travel to EU countries, and the prospects for change remain unclear. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said during a recent visit to Skopje that Macedonia has fulfilled all the conditions for visa liberalisation.
Nevertheless, EU parliamentarian Doris Pack, former Balkan mediator Carl Bildt and others have downplayed the prospects, saying visa restrictions will likely remain in place until 2010 and even beyond.
The topic is a hot one in Macedonia, where many lay the blame on neighbouring Greece -- which enjoys veto power as an EU member -- for stalling the process. Bloggers debate the issue with vigour, offering a representative sampling of opinion within the country.
Under the current system, 70% of Macedonians between the ages of 16 and 30 have not been to an EU member state, with the exception of Greece and Bulgaria. This "speaks volumes about their being cut off from their European fellow citizens", writes G.Jankovski.
The situation is in stark contrast to the pre-independence days, when Yugoslav documents were in hot demand on the black market due to the mobility they provided.
"Twenty years ago, Macedonians could travel everywhere with Yugoslav passports and without visas," recalls Firewall, commenting at the blog Facta non Verba. "Today, we are those same Macedonians but with an imposed visa barrier."
"Macedonians are asking to get what they had in the recent past, when they could travel freely throughout the world, nothing more," agrees THEMAC3DONIAN.
Many believe that the country labours under an unfair standard, one higher than that required even for some current EU members. The country is among the first to implement biometric passports, TPH notes, and has enacted other requirements set by Brussels. The current situation, he adds, is at odds with the EU's "often-proclaimed slogans of 'Europe without borders' and 'equality'".
"We have heard these slogans for 18 years, but two generations of Macedonians who effectively live in a ghetto cannot experience them," Firewall concludes.
:salut:
Ни се чул гласот. Поштувам. :salut:
