The Conference in Brussels of the Visa Facilitation Agreement
The visa regime in the West Balkan countries
and the implementation of the Visa Facilitation Agreement were the topics of
discussion at the Conference organized by ECAS in Brussels on December 10,
2008. Our presence as a civil society organization from Bosnia and Herzegovina
and an ECAS partner organization demonstrated our dedication to future action
in this area and our objective that citizens' voice on this issue is heard.
Namely, on the one hand, the Conference demonstrated that the representatives
of the European Union were satisfied with the implementation of the Agreement,
but, on the other, it pointed out some evident difficulties that the residents
of the West Balkan countries are still facing when they apply for a visa. We
remind you that this year a comprehensive survey was conducted on the
application of the Visa Facilitation Agreement in the area of the West Balkan
countries, and a telephone hotline VisaHotline was established for citizens'
questions regarding the implementation of the visa regime. The Conference in
Brussels was the occasion for the public presentation of the findings, which
resulted in a dialogue on the possibilities of improving the implementation of
the Visa Facilitation Agreement. More information on the research findings can
be found on www.ecas.org .