The European Union’s Ambassador to Türkiye, Thomas Ossowski, has said that it is “not acceptable” for Turkish citizens to lack visa-free travel rights to the EU’s borderless area of Schengen.
He emphasized that Brussels had proposed resuming technical talks in order to address the six remaining benchmarks for visa liberalization, Schengen.News reports.
We all know that the current situation isn’t sustainable. The consulates are overflown with Turkish visa demands. People have to wait for months, even for a year, sometimes to get a visa appointment. This is not sustainable. And this is not acceptable in the strategic relations we want to have with Türkiye. It’s a shame. It’s a shame for all of us.
Ongoing Visa-Liberalisation Talks
Back in 2016, Türkiye and the European Union began talks for granting visa liberalization to Turkish nationals. However, according to a report from Hürriyet Daily News, Türkiye failed to meet the 72 benchmarks, fulfilling 66 of them.
“So, we have to start the visa liberalization process again. We came now with a very honest offer to the Turkish government. Please let’s start the talks again,” the EU Ambassador to Türkiye Thomas Ossowski
Türkiye Lags Behind Kosovo on Visa-Free Travel
Expressing his dissatisfaction with the visa-free agreement between Türkiye, the Ambassador said “Even Kosovo, which is not recognised by several countries, has it.”
You know, Türkiye is the only candidate country in the European Union that has no visa-free travel. Even Kosovo has it which is not an official candidate country and is not recognized by Spain, Greece, Slovakia, and two other member states.
The Ambassador said that Kosovo is a fragile young state, stressing that Türkiye is a strong state with a strong bureaucracy.
And Kosovo is a fragile young state, but Türkiye is a strong state with a strong bureaucracy. How can it be that Kosovo people can travel visa-free to the European Union and Turks not?
Kosovo passport holders are eligible to travel to the EU without visas for short-term stays since January 1, 2024. This means that since the beginning of last year, Kosovo passport holders have been able to travel without visas for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
Last month, the President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urged the EU to revise Schengen visa practices.
