Free visas to Serbians

The 17 states in the border-free "Schengen" zone of the European Union have decided to issue free visas to all valid applicants from Serbia, they said in a joint statement issued yesterday.

The move comes before a crucial May 11 election in Serbia seen as a watershed for its future ties with the bloc.

"We have decided to make full usage of the flexibility referred to by the European Commission to provide free visas to all individual applicants for whom that is a possibility," said the statement, issued by the French Foreign Ministry.

(China Daily 05/07/2008 page10)