BRUSSELS: The European Commission on Wednesday proposed that Kosovo citizens be allowed to travel to the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone without a visa, a day after the Balkan nation became a UEFA member.

“I know how important visa-free travel is for the people of Kosovo... I hope that the European Parliament and the Council will adopt our proposal very soon,” Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos said in Brussels.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci hailed the decision as a second political victory in a week, after Kosovo became a UEFA member on Tuesday, boosting its hopes of competing in the 2018 World Cup.

“After decades of isolation, there will be no more queueing at embassies, there will be no rejection,” Thaci wrote on his Facebook account.

“We have not won a gift, but we deserved the liberalisation,” Thaci said.

Kosovo, a former southern Serbian province, was at the centre of a war between ethnic-Albanian and Serbian forces in 1998-99 and declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. It is now recognised by more than 100 countries, but it is not a member of the United Nations.

However, Belgrade has refused to recognise it and opposes Kosovo’s membership of international organisations.

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed the abolition of the current visa regime for Kosovo to the European Parliament and Council.

Once the decision is approved Kosovars “will no longer require visas when travelling for short stays of up to 90 days to all EU Member States except for Ireland and the UK” and four Schengen associated countries, the commission said in a statement.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2016