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The German embassy in Belgrade is only one of the diplomatic missions in the Serbian capital with visa applicants queuing up outside. But this line-up is almost permanent. Serbs need visas to travel to the Schengen countries. 00.25 Schengen groups almost all the EU states, plus non-EU Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. Tamara goes through this every time she goes to visit to her boyfriend. 00.38 Tamara STOJONOVIC, in English: “You have to apply with a huge amount of papers and also because the EU doesn't recognize Serbian health insurance, then you have to have an additional health insurance that it costs if you go for one month around 50 euro additional and again you have to pay for the visa which is 35 euro.” 00:57 Language challenges make the process that much harder. 01.05 Miroljub DJUKIC, in Serbian: “My daughter has sent me a written invitation for my granddaughter's birthday party." 01.10 The European Commission has proposed that the Serbs, Montenegrins and Macedonians be allowed to travel without a visa for the EU from this coming January. 01.22 Maja and Tamara, sisters, age 25 and 28, of a new Serbian generation, grasp any chance to travel and to study abroad. One has a political science degree and the other's an economist. They have an aunt who is Italian, the sort of thing that can help with a visa; you need an invitation letter from someone in an EU member state when you apply. 01.45 Maja TRGOVČEVIĆ, Student, in English: “I am lucky because I have always somebody there who can send me a letter of invitation. There are people who do not have that.” 01.55 Tamara came back to Belgrade after eight years' studying and working in Italy and Belgium. 02.02 Tamara TRGOVČEVIĆ, Economist, in English: “After a year in Brussels, my visa expired and I came back to Belgrade.” 02.09 Tamara now has a job here. Maja is taking a masters' environmental degree. 02.12 Few of Belgrade University's students are free to travel in the EU unconditionally. Most are enrolled in International Relations. 02.29 Ivan VEJVODA, Student, in English: “It segregates the country and especially the youth from the rest of Europe. In a way that they don't know what is outside of Serbia and so, they automatically become more xenophobic since they cannot meet people from abroad.” 02.43 Marija NIKIC, Student, in English: “It really takes a lot of patience and time and sometimes you just give up your trip or something and don't go.” 02.47 Nikola VESELINOVIC, Student, in English: “I was the only guy in the airplane I was checked probably because I was from Serbia. I don't know.” 02.53 Maja TRGOVČEVIĆ, Student, in English: "Hi, I have my visa. I have got it for six months. Do you want to see?" 03.06 The hurdles aren't reserved for students: Marko travels for the family business, Amphora, supplier of office and school supplies. Since his parents don't speak English well, he's often the one to attend meetings abroad. He's got a visa for three years at the moment, but before he got that, crossing certain borders was often touch and go, such as once when entering Romania. 03.27 Marko MARKOVIC, Sales Manager, “AMPHORA”, in English: “Should I take this custom guy or this custom guy? Which one is gonna let me go through? I take this one and he tells me: You have Schengen, you can pass, the another guy told me: No he is a Serbian citizen, he cannot enter and they argued for half and hour whether I can or I cannot enter in the country.” 03.46 The non-governmental organisation Grupa 484 has worked hard trying to make it easier for Balkan countries' citizens to travel. This member couldn't get to a job conference in Italy in 2003. 04.01 Danilo RAKIC, Policy Officer, GRUPA 484, in English: “I was rejected without any explanation. In this way I was told that I wasn't welcome to enter in the EU. It was a huge humiliation.” 04.17 Serbs in creative work don't have it easy travelling around the EU, either. Popular young writer Marko has just presented his latest novel at the Belgrade International Book Fair. 04.31 Marko VIDOJKOVIC, Writer and Journalist, in English: “For seven years before I couldn't get the passport at all in Serbia because of the regime of MILOSEVIC, so finally when we get free from MILOSEVIC I couldn't get out of Serbia if I wanted to travel anywhere. So, eventually I lost my want to travel.” 04.44 With the regime of MILOSEVIC and the Balkan wars now in the past, young Serbs can look forward to more opportunities. 04.55 Tamara TRGOVČEVIĆ, Economist, in Italian: "There are exchanges for students, several programmes which permit people to travel and get to know Europe... because geographically we are part of Europe. Aren't we?" 05.11 Maja's six-month visa is cause for celebration. 05.19 One can get a lucky break... Aleksandra had been living in Brussels for a long time. When she finished her studies and started working, her employer didn't hesitate to help get her the right papers. 05.31 Aleksandra MILOSEVIC, Conference Manager, in English: “She didn't really care that I needed the work permission. She was fine to do it for me, because it didn't take a long time. But, when you have a market of 29 countries which don't require this, big companies just say: “we don't want to do this.” 05.44 Before deciding that Serbs were free to travel around the EU, an agreement was needed on Kosovo. Like Belgrade, some EU states do not recognise the traditional province of Serbia as a country. This is unfortunate for Kosovo citizens, this Serb official tells us. 06.01 Drazen MARAVIC, Serbian Ministry of Interior, in English: “We have a mixed situation for majority of people who have a Serbian passport, there will be a visa free regime and for those who reside in the territory of KOSOVO METOKIA, they will still need for visa regime.” 06.13 An EU official goes further: 06.18 Vincent DEGERT Head of EU Delegation, Serbia, in French: "Why? Simply, because the Serbian authorities do not have the capacity to control the conditions of residence, the birth registry system and so on in the territories. And some of those registries disappeared during the war." 06.34 Some European Parliament members, for instance from Slovenia, (the only ex-Yugoslavia country now in the EU), say 'hurry up with liberalising visas for Kosovo, Bosnia and Albania'. 06.46 MEP Jelko KACIN (ALDE, SI), in English: “How we can expect that they will understand the EU and they will move faster, if we forbid them to get the basic information. They need their personal experiences.” 06.59 MEP Tanja FAJON (S & D, SI), in English: “I very much regret the EC in its proposal in July left out the citizens of Bosnia Herzegovina and Albania, especially in the case of Bosnia Herzegovina, what can create a situation that only Bosniacs will be those who will be considered as a second class citizens.” 07.16 The European Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security clarifies an important point: 07.22 Jacques BARROT, Vice-President of the European Commission, in French: "A clear distinction must be drawn between doing away with the visa and candidacy to join the EU. These are two different problems." 07.33 The EU's Justice and Home Affairs Council will decide about the European Commission's proposal to abolish visas for Serbs, Montenegrins and Macedonians at the end of this month. 07.47 Nevena POPOVIC, in English: “Yes, there are plans, but I don't believe that until I see it." Distributed by Tubemogul.

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