BELGRADE – On April 28 National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia ratified three agreements on mobility signed within the Berlin Process. The heads of the six Western Balkan countries signed agreements for the mutual recognition of identity cards, university degrees, and professional qualifications on 3 November, at the summit within the Berlin Process.
The Special Envoy of the German Government for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin, congratulated the official Belgrade and assessed that “it is good that all three agreements on mobility have been ratified. Until now, Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, and North Macedonia ratified all three agreements.
The agreement on the mutual recognition of identity cards, which provides for free movement, and recognition of university degrees and professional qualifications. Thus, a step forward was made toward the creation of the Common Regional Market (CRM).
In practice, this should mean that in the future, only an ID card will be required to travel between the countries of the region. The agreement will mean the most to the Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens, who had a visa regime until now. The agreement should also bring progress in freedom of movement between Serbia and Kosovo, because Kosovo prohibits the use of Serbian identity cards for citizens residing in Kosovo, while Serbia prohibits citizens with Kosovo identity cards from entering all border crossings.
As for diplomas, the countries of the region will adopt common rules and procedures for the recognition of university qualifications. Thus, it will take only 14 days for diplomas to be recognized, and students will not bear the costs of certification. All this should enable greater mobility of students and academic staff.
The third agreement, which involves the recognition of professional qualifications, will facilitate the freedom of labor movement and employment for certain professions such as doctors, dentists and architects. As explained today during the summit, this agreement is the basis for negotiations on other professions as well.