Response to interpellation 2022/23:244 on visa-free travel for citizens of Kosovo

Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Mr. Speaker! Ludvig Aspling has asked EU Minister Jessika Roswall if she sees any risks with granting Kosovo visa-free travel and what the government plans to do to counter any potential risks.

The work within the government is distributed in such a way that it is I who shall answer the interpellation.

The Commission presented a proposal in 2016 on visa-free travel for Kosovar citizens for short stays in the Schengen area. In March 2023, the Council and the European Parliament agreed to include Kosovo on the list of countries whose citizens are exempt from visa requirements to the EU. The visa-free travel for Kosovo enters into force on 1 January 2024.

The dialogue to grant Kosovo visa-free travel has thus been ongoing for many years. During that time, Kosovo has undertaken extensive reforms in accordance with the roadmap for visa-free travel that the EU has developed. The roadmap contains criteria linked to migration and border management, document security, public order and security, as well as fundamental rights – areas where clear needs for improvement have been identified in order to be exempted from the visa requirement. In addition to the criteria, there are also provisions regarding cooperation on returns. To meet the criteria, Kosovo has adapted its legislation in these areas to align with the rules within the EU.

Risk analysis and risk management are central in the preparatory work for all decisions regarding visa-free travel. The preparation phase has been longer and more in-depth for Kosovo than for many other countries. To mention a few examples, Kosovo has expanded its border management, established cooperation agreements with Frontex, and been able to demonstrate concrete progress in the work against organized crime and corruption. The work has corresponded to that which has caused other countries in the region to be granted visa-free travel, and the government has found no reason to deviate from the previous assessment.

Freedom of movement always entails a certain risk. A central part of managing that is to carefully monitor how it develops. Within the framework of the Swedish presidency of the EU, the government has therefore initiated a discussion on reviewing the possibilities to, on objective grounds, be able to take measures more quickly and more effectively to revoke the freedom of movement if it leads to undesirable consequences. The possibility of faster action in the event of abuse reduces the risks associated with granting freedom of movement, while at the same time more people can enjoy the benefits it entails for law-abiding citizens.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ludvig Aspling (SD)

Mr. Speaker! First and foremost, I want to emphasize that we have a very good cooperation in the area of migration policy. Nothing of what I highlight here shall therefore be interpreted as criticism of the government in this part.

But as for the question of Kosovo, I think the government has gotten it completely wrong. One has, in fact, stood behind a proposal for visa-free travel for persons from Kosovo, which means that approximately 2 million people from this country will now in principle be able to travel to the European Union with very few requirements.

One can look a little bit at what consequences this can mean in practice. In the Commission's staff working paper, i.e., the country report, on Kosovo, the following is stated in chapter 24, Justice, freedom and security: "Kosovo is at an early stage in the fight against organised crime and limited progress was made in investigating and prosecuting organised crime cases. Powerful tools envisaged by the Criminal Code and the Law on Extended Powers of Confiscation are not yet fully utilised. The operational independence of law enforcement agencies must be ensured. Fighting organised crime in the northern part of Kosovo continues to be challenging."

Shouldn't a country have progressed further than the "initial stage" in the fight against organized crime before we hand over the keys to the European Union? Yes, I think so.

Reading further, one sees that Kosovo is an important hub, and in some cases a country of origin, for human and drug trafficking with large quantities and volumes in movement.

Kosovo, and Albanian organizations in general, appear to have a decisive role in the drug trade within Europe, often with links to Turkey and Italy where there is also plenty of organized crime.

This is nothing new. I could pull up a catalog of examples of how Kosovo is a very problematic country in these respects.

Against this background, one must ask the question: Does this have any connection to the social problems that we see in Sweden today? My answer to that question is yes. I would definitely assert that it does. The fact is that organized crime, illegal weapons, and international gangs are not just a problem, but they are problem number one that this government has to handle.

One must also ask whether the government has made any promises regarding this. Yes, it definitely has. I quote from the Moderates' own website shortly before the election: "The criminal gangs hold parts of Sweden in an iron grip. They do not only threaten individuals' lives, but the entire Swedish social contract. It damages the trust and confidence that our social construction rests upon. It was against just that background that on September 1 we called for a rapid and operational political mobilization to combat gang crime."

I can, of course, only agree on the importance of this – but why then open up the EU towards a country that we know is a source of extensive amounts of organized crime, illegal weapons, drugs, and human trafficking directly at our outer border? To me, it is incomprehensible.

The Minister also mentions that a number of other countries have been granted visa-free access on approximately the same criteria and that this follows practice. That is entirely true, but that does not mean it was good – and it definitely does not mean that we were behind those decisions. We were against visa-free access for most of the countries in the Western Balkans, if not all. For our part, it is therefore not a particularly strong argument that this mistake has been made previously.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

TJÄNSTGÖRANDE ÅLDERSPRESIDENTEN

I would like to remind the interpellor that speeches in the chamber shall be held in Swedish.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)

Mr. Speaker! My colleague Member Aspling writes in his interpellation that the decision on visa-free travel for citizens from Kosovo is unfortunate. Yes, it is unfortunate, but it also shows that unfortunately there is only one party in this Riksdag that safeguards the safety of the Swedish people.

It is important that the common man understands what conditions prevail in Kosovo when the EU, with the support of this government, opens the gates through visa-free travel. Kosovo is, to say the least, a very unstable country. As recently as December 28, Kosovo Serbs in northern Kosovo manned roadblocks. The situation is tense between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. Serbia and Kosovo have still not signed a peace agreement, despite persistent efforts from the EU to make this happen.

There is no guarantee at all that the violent ethnic conflicts in the country will disappear within the next 50 years. It is while such insecurity prevails in Kosovo that the Swedish government agrees to support visa-free travel for citizens from Kosovo.

Let us say - and hope - that the peace holds in Kosovo. But there are many other major problems in Kosovo that mean the country is not suitable for visa-free travel.

Mr. Speaker! According to the World Bank, Kosovo has an unemployment rate of 25 percent of the total workforce. This means that every fourth citizen in Kosovo who can work lacks work. What do you think the Minister for Migration will consider to be one of the many consequences when citizens from Kosovo can more easily reach Sweden?

Right now, there is an upward trend regarding unemployment in Kosovo. Despite the unemployment, there is a skills shortage in the country. The reason for this is that many educated Kosovar citizens leave Kosovo to seek work in other countries. This will become easier to do with the visa-free travel that the Swedish government supports, so Kosovo will not benefit from such visa-free travel either.

According to a report from the European Commission dated October 12, 2022, corruption, organized crime, and the conditions for freedom of expression continue to be a problem in northern Kosovo. The same report, and several other reports, convey how large the problem is regarding the illegal economy in Kosovo. The illegal economy constitutes more than 30 percent of Kosovo's GDP. According to experts, an illegal economy of that magnitude is maintained by a weak rule of law. Such a large illegal economy scares away investors from Kosovo but attracts criminals.

Given these economic conditions, one really wonders how this government reasons when it supports visa-free travel for Kosovar citizens.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Mr. Speaker! The risks the members raise, including in the form of crime and drugs, are naturally such risks that must be taken seriously. The Government acknowledges that there is a clear balance between different interests, and I agree with the interpellants that there are risks. That is also why Sweden and a number of other countries have been cautious regarding this decision, but the Government's assessment—which was ultimately also shared by all members of the Council of Ministers—is that the advantages in the case of Kosovo overall outweigh the risks that exist.

It is a fundamental starting point for this government to safeguard good relations and pursue an active policy in relation to countries in the EU's immediate vicinity. That Kosovo is approaching the EU and, in the long run, our basic principles regarding the rule of law and human rights is something positive. That people can move freely is a success, and that simplifying trade and the everyday lives of ordinary people is something we safeguard. Freedom of movement is a step forward insofar as the risks do not grow too large.

I also want to emphasize something that is very important here, and that is that the government views the issue from a broader security perspective. Kosovo is today the only country in the Western Balkans without visa-free access to Schengen. Continued isolation risks leading to increased tensions, which is particularly problematic given the level of conflict and Kosovo's contested status.

Maintaining momentum in neighborhood policy, with a major focus on the principles of the rule of law, contributes on the other hand in the long run to increased stability, a stronger rule of law and increased opportunities to long-term prevent and combat organized crime. These are also factors that must be weighed when a decision is to be made.

Removing the visa requirement does, however, as said, involve certain risks. In order to assess and prevent them and to clearly push forward for rule-of-law reforms, the Commission has established roadmaps for visa-free travel for certain countries. The proposal for visa-free travel for Kosovo was presented in 2016, and Kosovo has taken a number of measures over the years. Since 2018, the Commission has made the assessment that Kosovo has fulfilled all the criteria in that roadmap.

In conclusion, I want to emphasize the importance of the EU acting credibly towards third countries and standing by its commitments. In this case, there has been a clear promise from the EU's side regarding freedom of visa issuance under certain conditions. Choosing time and again to back down from such promises when states comply with the requirements that have been set risks eroding trust in the EU's relations with third countries, and it is particularly important that the EU is reliable when we talk about countries in our neighborhood that are part of the EU's expansion process.

It was from this overall picture that a broad majority in this chamber and the entire Council of Ministers stood behind the decision to, from the turn of the year, grant Kosovo freedom of movement for shorter stays within the EU.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ludvig Aspling (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Initially, I just wanted to say that the practice in the chamber, as I have understood it, is that shorter quotes in English, from papers that have not been translated into Swedish, are usually acceptable. Otherwise, we would need an authorized translator to be able to reproduce the quote correctly, and that seems somewhat unnecessary when it is in English.

I thought we would move on to another chapter in the country report and look at what it says about a complex of problems that should sound familiar here in Sweden, namely Islamism plus poverty and migration. So it says here on page 51 in the commission's country report: "Challenges in countering terrorism and preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalisation remain. Militant Salafist ideology and ethnonational movements continue to be present in the region, including Kosovo, and remain a threat."

Kosovo has a well-documented and well-known problem with violent Islamism. According to the Kosovo Center for Security Studies, which is a local, non-governmental organization, Kosovo has had more terror war-travelers to the Islamic State per capita than any other country in Europe. It is not a bad record - more than any other country! One is number one. The organization describes the problem as follows: The poor economic conditions experienced after the war have continued, and have meant that religious and political Islamic groups have gained more credibility than the government. I don't think that sounds very good.

The high degree of radicalization makes Kosovo a natural gateway for Islamic terrorism in Europe, and there have already been several arrests of this type of individuals who have planned attacks against targets in the EU. In this situation, one must ask: Do we have a problem with organized radical Islam here in Sweden? I want to assert that we do. Is it then smart to open up for visa-free travel for an entire country when we know that Sweden usually becomes a very attractive destination for such people? No, I would not say so. Sweden needs less Islamism - not more.

Kosovo is also one of the poorest countries in Europe. Approximately a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line and is dependent on social assistance, and support from relatives working abroad is something that is very widespread. According to a former head of the Albanian statistics agency, people spend approximately half of their legal income - that is, half of the salary - on bread.

It is not that I stand here and blame these people for being poor. It is very sad, and I naturally wish that they could get their country in order and have a better functioning economy. But the year is still 2023, and we should have come so far that we know what happens when we open up the borders and encourage migration from countries that have a significantly lower standard of living. We do not need more people who seek themselves here and who are forced to work illegally, compete with low wages or commit crimes. Does the government really see no risk that this will actually become a problem?

I perceived that the Minister earlier in the debate referred to the somewhat more overarching geostrategic discussion and to the fact that it is important that this country is tied closer to the EU and does not become a satellite state to Russia, Turkey, or any regional powers who might now be interested in having a foothold there. Of course that is so, but one must remember that approximately 90 percent of Kosovo's trade goes to the European Union. This country is entirely dependent on the EU as it is. They will not convert their entire economy in order to instead become a satellite state to Russia – that is completely unlikely. They are entirely dependent on the EU. We have a strong negotiating position, and we can demand significantly more.

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TJÄNSTGÖRANDE ÅLDERSPRESIDENTEN

I want to remind once again that the Swedish language should be used in the chamber - also for democratic reasons, so that everyone who follows the debate can understand what is being said in the Swedish Riksdag.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Given that Sweden has had and continues to have problems with economic migrants, visa-free travel for citizens from Kosovo will be a burden for Sweden. Kosovo is a country that has social and economic problems as well as security problems. There is nothing to indicate that this will change in the near future.

I do not think the Minister for Migration should be surprised when citizens from Kosovo come to Sweden and strengthen Sweden's shadow society. The Minister for Migration should also not be surprised when Kosovo becomes a country used as a transit route to enter the EU and eventually to Sweden. What I am surprised about is that the Minister for Migration has completely missed this problem.

We must see what is good for Sweden, and much suggests that visa-free travel for citizens from Kosovo is not good for Sweden. One-fifth of Kosovo's population lives in poverty. This makes the country one of Europe's poorest countries. It is for this country's citizens that the EU has introduced visa-free travel with the support of Sweden's government.

Kosovo has an extensive illegal economy consisting of drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling, prostitution and human trafficking. It is obvious that visa-free travel for citizens from Kosovo will make Sweden less safe. It is sad that the Minister for Migration does not understand this.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Mr. Speaker! Regarding the risks that both members have highlighted, I have absolutely said that I see them and that a trade-off has been made where we have landed on the fact that the benefits still outweigh them. These are not always easy trade-offs, but a trade-off has indeed been made.

When it comes to the risk of illegal migration, we will, somewhat delayed, launch Etias, which will involve registration for visa-free persons who wish to enter the EU. There, a security check will also take place. This is extremely important, and it is also something that has been put forward in the negotiations on visa-free status for Kosovo.

When it comes to the risk of illegal labor, we have a common and very important task in reaching the shadow society. We will move forward with many measures that I believe are necessary for several reasons. When it comes to the more regulated labor immigration, we will tighten the requirements significantly, which I believe will lead to a more balanced situation.

I note that the risk for asylum seekers is limited. The number of asylum seekers from Kosovo has decreased significantly over the recent years. During the last decade, we have seen a decrease of 90 percent. The Swedish Migration Agency also assesses that the risk is lower compared to other countries in the surrounding area because Kosovo is included on the list of safe countries of origin. The Swedish Migration Agency is also clear that the return to Kosovo works very well.

I return to the broader picture and the importance of being able to both grant visa-free travel and manage the risks that this entails. There is, as I mentioned, ongoing reform work regarding the common visa policy in the EU and the Schengen area. During the Swedish presidency in the EU, I initiated a discussion with my counterparts partly on how the requirements for visa-free travel can be reviewed and how they should be continuously monitored, which is important, and partly on how suspension of visa-free travel can be carried out in a more efficient way when a need arises.

The Swedish initiative means that both the granting and suspension of visa-free travel shall be able to occur based on clear criteria. Today, decisions on visa changes in the council are made entirely based on political assessments. This has led to less predictability for third countries and great inertia when tough decisions need to be made to restrict visa-free travel.

The government has received broad support from the member states, and the Commission has committed to presenting proposals on how this can be implemented. I am optimistic regarding reaching an arrangement where abuse can be addressed significantly faster and where the basis for decisions in referral matters becomes better.

The countries that are visa-exempt for the Schengen area must adapt their visa policy to the EU even after decisions have been made. This has become clear, not least regarding the developments in the Western Balkans.

In addition to improved follow-up and suspension possibilities, ETIAS, as I mentioned, will upon its entry into force improve the possibilities to detect security threats and irregular migration without visa requirements being introduced. In the question of Kosovo, these changes – ETIAS and a reformed suspension mechanism – would give us better conditions to handle a situation that is also changing over time.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ludvig Aspling (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Now the Migration Minister is singing for the choir - these are, of course, things that we agree on and that the Sweden Democrats have been harping on about for years. Both the European Union and the Swedish government must take these issues more seriously than they have done, and now things are actually happening. It is completely true that the new Etias system will mean significantly better control over those traveling into and out of the union, and this is, of course, something that the Sweden Democrats stand behind.

Regarding the adaptation of the visa policy to the EU's regulatory framework, one could say that the work has progressed so-so. There are strong indications that certain countries are violating the EU's regulatory framework, but these countries still retain their visa advantages. No drastic decisions have been made, even though there has been a fair amount of talk and even though the State Councilor has, in a constructive manner, raised the issue in, among other places, the European Council.

The points that the Minister highlights as positive are asylum seekers and repatriation. This is well the least one can demand. Some kind of foundation for a country to be granted visa freedom should be that we do not have flows of asylum seekers coming from that country, for then there is obviously a situation that does not allow the country to keep track of its own citizens and deliver correct information about who is traveling out of the country.

Even the recovery should be some kind of foundation. Without a functioning recovery, one should absolutely not have any freedom of viewing at all.

Mr. Speaker! In conclusion, I would like to once again thank the Minister for the good cooperation we have had in the area of migration policy. This government will do very much good for Sweden if the course is maintained moving forward, and I am very happy to be a part of this cooperation. It does not, however, mean that we agree on everything, and this is such a point.

But again: Thank you for the work you do!

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Mr. Speaker! The Government is well aware that we are making a trade-off between different interests here, but we also view the issue from a broader security perspective. As I said, Kosovo is today the only country in the Western Balkans without freedom of movement, and continued isolation entails risks.

Ludvig Aspling raises the problem that there are countries that violate the visa regulations. I completely share the view that far too little has happened, and that is exactly why I have initiated a change in the Council of Ministers. I am pleased that there was broad support behind a changed regulatory framework with more effective possibilities for suspending the freedom of movement, and that the commission has committed to producing such a reform proposal. This is truly important.

In conclusion: Nima Gholam Ali Pour initially stated that there is only one party that cares about the country's security. That is not true. There are several.

I also want to thank for good cooperation with the coalition partner to carry out the important reforms Sweden needs for increased security.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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