Kosovo writer Jeton Neziraj says receiving a top EU award – while being denied a visa to the EU – highlights Europe’s absurd policies towards his country.
Kosovo playwright Jeton Neziraj’s recent “hero-to-zero” moment has highlighted the European Union’s inconsistent and odd policies towards Kosovo, he says.
It has also underlined the importance of Kosovo securing a visa-free regime with the EU, having fulfilled all of the conditions demanded, Neziraj says in an interview for BIRN.
Last week, the European Commission recommended proceeding with visa liberalisation, which Kosovo expects to receive any day.
Neziraj, 41, has written more than 20 plays that have been translated into more than 20 languages.
On “Europe Day”, May 9, which Kosovo has made a national holiday, Neziraj received the “European of the Year” award, signed by the head of the EU Office in Kosovo, Nataliya Apostolova, bestowed on him for “promotion of European idea and values in Kosovo”.
Around the same time, however, Neziraj and his team received a shock when they were invited to participate in a theatre festival in Timisoara, Romania.
When they knocked on the doors of EU embassies in Prishtina in order to obtain visas, they found them closed. Their visa applications were turned down.
Source: BalkanInsight
