The Ministry of Internal Affairs has held a regular meeting with the Migration Attachés of foreign embassies in Kosovo, with the aim of discussing general migration trends, with special emphasis on migratory movements, as well as monitoring the movement process of Kosovo citizens following the visa liberalization process.

In this meeting, the National Coordinator for Migration, at the same time Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Blerim Gashani emphasized that migration management is one of the most important policies of Kosovo's institutions.

He said that since the beginning of the development of the migration policies articulated within the strategic documents, the main focus has been on preventing irregular migration and guaranteeing safe, organized and regular migration. Thus, this approach built over the years has given its results and now migration trends, especially irregular migration from Kosovo to the European Union, has marked a significant reduction, while the trend of regular migration, especially for employment purposes, has increased.

“As you are aware, as of January 1, 2024, the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo were able to travel free in the Schengen area, and this right was earned with a lot of work and dedication. As institutions, we have made the necessary preparations to manage this process, including informing our citizens about the rights and obligations that derive from this freedom of movement. Based on the reports I have received from the responsible institutional mechanisms so far, everything is going normally and there have been no reported cases of non-compliance with the rules”, stated Deputy Minister Gashani.

In this meeting, Deputy Minister Gashani noted that in the field of legislation during the first quarter of this year, based on the Government's legislative plan, we expect to approve the new Law on Foreigners, as one of the basic laws that regulates the field of migration in the Republic of Kosovo.

“In the framework of this draft law, we have included some important issues, which will undoubtedly advance the system for managing migration in the country. Special focus has been put on international principles for the protection of human rights as well as EU directives related to the treatment and return of migrants illegally staying in the territory of the Republic of Kosovo.”, stated Deputy Minister Gashani.

In this meeting, various issues in the field of migration were discussed. Representatives of the Kosovo Police, officials of the Department for Citizenship, Asylum and Migration, Attachés, as well as organizations that support the field of migration, participated in these discussions.