Kosovo’s Defense Minister, Ejup Maqedonci, has announced that personnel from the Ministry of Defense and the Security Force of Kosovo engaged in military and official activities in the United Kingdom will be eligible to travel visa-free.
According to Maqedonci, the information was conveyed to him today by Lieutenant Colonel Steve Forrest, a bilateral advisor in the Ministry of Defense, VisaGuide.World reports.
He confirmed the announcement through a statement provided on his official Facebook account.
Maqedonci attributed the recent decision to the ongoing cooperation in the field of defense and the commitment of the Republic of Kosovo to the defense activities led by the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom has consistently played a key role in the state-building process in general and strengthening the defense capacities of our country in particular. This is also evidence of the credibility that the Ministry of Defense and the Security Force of Kosovo enjoy with our partners.
Earlier this month, Kosovo and Saudi Arabia reached an agreement for visa exemption for those who hold diplomatic and official passports.
Such an agreement was signed in Riyadh by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Kreshnik Ahmeti, and his counterpart, Waleed Abdulkarim El Khereiji.
Besides, recently, Kosovo reached an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to remove entry visas for holders of passports issued by authorities in Kosovo. Such a decision was confirmed by the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani.
Osmani thanked the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed Bin Zayed, for accepting her proposal to abolish visas for the citizens of Kosovo. She confirmed that the agreement reached during the joint meeting held last month has already been signed, “opening the way for more cooperation opportunities between our countries and our citizens.”
From January this year, citizens of Kosovo are eligible to travel visa-free to Schengen Zone countries. The abolishment of additional requirements, such as visas, has also significantly strengthened the passport of this country.
Based on the January update of the VisaGuide’s Passport Index, Kosovo has climbed up from the 188th position, which was placed in December last year, to the 99th position, which occupies at present.
The founder of VisaGuide.World, Besart Bajrami, considered the climb up in the index “historical.”
This is a historical achievement for Kosovo and a historical climb up in the passport strength index, which showcases that only the EU has the exclusive authority to increase the power of a passport overnight to such an extent.
In December 2023, when Kosovo was placed in the 188th position in the VisaGuide Passport Index, its citizens were eligible to visit visa-free only in 11 countries and needed traditional visas for journeys to a total of 130 countries.