Serbia has started to fully harmonise its visa policy with the European Union on its pathway to join the bloc.
In line with this goal, authorities in Belgrade have imposed visa requirements for nationals of Mongolia, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, Schengen.News reports.
Serbia aims to align its visa policies with European Union standards by the end of 2026.
Other countries that the Balkan country may need to impose visa requirements are Russia, Belarus, Türkiye, China and Azerbaijan, according to a report from BalkanEU.
The introduction of visa requirements by Serbia to these countries marks an important step on the country’s journey towards EU accession.
However, the decision is expected to bring complications for travellers from these countries wishing to visit Serbia. The changes may affect tourism and business travel, as visitors will be subject to visa requirements prior to travelling to Serbia.
Besides nationals of Qatar, Mongolia, Kuwait, and Oman will also be subject to waiting times for their visa applications to be processed, depending on the volume of applications and other factors.
Serbia’s Bid to Join EU
Serbia began its journey towards EU accession in 2009. The Balkan country was granted EU candidate status in 2012.
Accession negotiations between the EU and Serbia started in June 2013, while in January 2014, the first intergovernmental Conference was held, indicating the formal beginning of accession negotiations.
In the EU’s 2024 enlargement report on Serbia, it was emphasized that institutions in charge of the EU integration process are functioning well, however, the legislative break brought by the early election slowed down reforms and brought new challenges for the administrative bodies responsible for the accession negotiations.
Serbia continues to declare EU membership as its strategic goal. However, the authorities are yet to ensure a more proactive and objective communication about the EU and Serbia’s accession process.
In December 2024, the Dutch Foreign Minister, Caspar Veldkamp, said that the Netherlands would prevent Serbia’s progression towards EU membership.
The Minister said that Serbia has not made enough progress in fields such as the rule of law.
We see that Serbia is still not sufficiently aligning its foreign policy with EU foreign policy.
In contrast to the netherlands, Hungarian Defense Minister, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, in November 2024 Said that Serbia’s accession to the EU should be finalised as soon as possibleafter many years of waiting.