ABSTRACT
Visa liberalisation dialogues took place from 2008 to 2010 between the European Commission and the following countries of the Western Balkans: Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The objective of the dialogues was the removal of these countries from the so-called Schengen black list registering the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement in line with the Council Regulation (EC) No. 539/2001.1 The compliance with the stipulated benchmarks was determined through written responses by the national governments and several on-the-ground assessments. Ultimately, after satisfactory progress was determined in the dialogues, the visa requirements were lifted for Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro at the end of 2009, and in the following year for Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.2
