TV Vijesti: Citizens of Kuwait, Armenia, Egypt and Uzbekistan will need a visa to enter Montenegro

According to information from Television Vijesti, the Government of Montenegro is expected to make a decision on changes to the visa regime tomorrow.

Kuwait, Armenia, Egypt and Uzbekistan will be removed from the list of countries whose citizens do not require a visa to enter Montenegro by the end of the month, Televizija Vijesti learned from several sources in the Government. At the same time, a new country, Nauru, will be added to the list of visa-free regimes, a small Pacific island country with which Montenegro has not had a regulated travel regime until now.

With this move, the Government continues to harmonize visa policy with the European Union (EU), which is one of the key conditions on the European path.

The EU has repeatedly warned that Montenegro must abolish the visa-free regime for at least one country for which the EU itself requires a visa, if it wants to progress in the accession process and use money from the European Growth Plan.

After the decision comes into force, citizens of China, Russia, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Azerbaijan will still be able to enter Montenegro without a visa, while a limited, seasonal regime will still apply to citizens of the United Arab Emirates.

Montenegro has previously pursued a liberal visa policy, justifying it by the needs of tourism, given the large number of visitors from Turkey, Russia and Arab countries. However, Brussels says that economic reasons cannot override the obligations arising from the accession process.

The process of full alignment of visa policy with EU standards is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

Incidentally, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is coming to Montenegro next week, so this decision can be interpreted in that context as another sign of alignment with Brussels.