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Kosovo Approves Border Deal in Bid to Gain EU Visa-Free Regime

Kosovo Approves Border Deal in Bid to Gain EU Visa-Free Regime

(Bloomberg) -- Kosovo lawmakers approved a border demarcation deal with Montenegro, meeting a European Union condition needed to gain a visa-free regime for its citizens.

Lawmakers voted 80-11 to back the deal in Wednesday session that was disrupted by tear gas attacks from a nationalist opposition party. The approval of the agreement had been delayed for years as the opposition, which say the motion forces Kosovo to give up some territory, disrupted previous sessions on the matter.

The deal “represents a real achievement, welcome and concrete progress, very much in the spirit of good neighborly relations,” Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs said in a statement on Wednesday. “The ratification is also the fulfillment of one of the key criteria for Kosovo’s visa liberalization. It’s a crucial step toward visa liberalization which will first and foremost benefit the people.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Misha Savic in Belgrade at msavic2@bloomberg.net, Boris Cerni in Ljubljana at bcerni@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey

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