The EPIK Institute has published detailed data on the impact of visa liberalization on the number of asylum seekers from Kosovo to European Union countries.
According to the report, during the first year after visa liberalization, Kosovo has recorded a 144% increase in asylum requests, compared to the period before liberalization.
According to Eurostat data, a total of 5,635 asylum applications were registered by Kosovo citizens in EU countries during 2024. The main destinations were France with 3,150 applications, Germany with 1,665 and Italy with 485 applications.
“Although asylum applications from Kosovo increased by 144% in the first year of visa liberalization, this increase is actually quite low when compared to the increase in the number of asylum seekers from other countries in the region in their first year of visa liberalization. In the case of North Macedonia, the number of asylum seekers increased by 895%, in the case of Serbia by 356%, and in the case of Albania by 166%. Only Montenegro and Bosnia managed to keep the increase in the number of asylum seekers below 100%.”
EPIK emphasizes that this increase was temporary and remained within the predicted parameters, with no signs of a new wave of emigration.
In the comparative report for the Western Balkan countries, Kosovo ranks among the countries with the lowest increase in the number of asylum seekers after visa liberalization.
The growth for North Macedonia was 895%, for Serbia 356%, for Albania 166%, while Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina had growth below 100% – 79% and 26%, respectively.
Eurostat's data graphs clearly show that, although after liberalization the number of asylum applications increased in all countries in the region, Kosovo remained in the middle of the table, with a much more controlled level of migration than its neighbors in the first years of free movement with the EU.
The report concludes that these figures prove that visa liberalization for Kosovo has not caused a migration crisis, but a temporary reaction that is now stabilizing within the EU's institutional expectations.
The process of visa liberalization for Kosovo citizens has been one of the longest and most complicated paths in the history of the country's relations with the European Union. This process officially began in 2012, when the European Commission submitted the Roadmap for Visa Liberalization, which included over 90 technical, legal and political criteria that Kosovo had to meet.
After several positive assessments by the European Commission, Kosovo received confirmation of meeting all criteria in July 2018. However, the political process for final approval dragged on for more than five years, due to objections from several EU member states.
After a decade of diplomatic efforts, on January 1, 2024, it became possible for Kosovo citizens to travel visa-free to the Schengen area, for short-term stays of up to 90 days within any 180-day period./Monitor
