EU visa-free travel for some Balkan states — but region's Muslims left out

The European Union Commission made good today on a long-awaited promise to offer visa-free travel to citizens of three Balkan states, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro. But some critics fear the EU's failure to include Bosnia, Albania or Kosovo — all countries with large Muslim populations — could raise religious and ethnic tensions in the region.

Bosnia's foreign minister, Sven Aljalaj, charged that the EU was creating a "ghetto" for Bosnian Muslims, according to Reuters. 

Bosnia and Albania started the process toward visa-free travel at the same time as the other Balkan states, but the EU says they aren't yet ready. Kosovo's status remains disputed, as not all EU states have recognized its 2008 declaration of independence. 

The EU says citizens of the three countries should be able to travel to most EU countries without a visa by the beginning of next year. The policy would include members of the border-free Schengen area, which includes all EU countries except for Britain and Ireland, as well as non-EU states Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. 

For Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro — all formerly part of Yugoslavia — visa-free travel to Europe is an important step toward EU membership. But for Serbs, it's also a psychological victory. Their inability to travel freely in Europe has rankled, and many Serbs saw it as proof that they were still a pariah nation that had not been forgiven for its role in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

So today, Serbia's government is likely breathing a sigh of relief. The country's pro-European camp, which won a narrow majority last year, campaigned on the promise to bring Serbia into Europe. Freer travel in Europe will be seen as important evidence that progress toward that end is being made.

In Sarajevo, however, many politicians are feeling betrayed. The political system established by the Dayton Agreement, which ended the Bosnian war, is showing signs of stress and many there fear this will worsen an already fragile situation.

Leaving Bosnia out of the agreement will disproportionately affect the country's Muslim population. Many Bosnian Croats already have Croatian passports (and are therefore already eligible for visa-free travel to Europe) and, since last year, Serbia has been issuing passports to residents of the Republika Srpska — the majority Serb part of the Bosnian federation. 

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/europe/090715/eu-visa-free-travel-balkan-states-muslim-countries-left-out