The EU Ambassador to Kuwait, Anne Koistinen, has said that one of her main priorities in the next months is the facilitation of Schengen visas for passport holders of Kuwait.
During a meeting with local media representatives, Ambassador Koistinen emphasised that Kuwait is a trusted friend and that the EU values the country for it.
The same ensured Kuwait that it can count on the EU, but it did not make any statement on when visas are expected to be facilitated for the country’s nationals, Schengen.News reports.
Our message to the Kuwaiti leadership and government is very clear: you can count on the European Union.
Ambassador Koistinen also said that 2025 is a very important year for the EU-Kuwait relations, while highlighting that the European Union is committed to working together with Kuwait during its rotating presidency of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Arab Times explains.
I believe there is much positive potential for our relations, and there is much we can do together at the bilateral, regional, and international levels.
Kuwait Pushing to Reach Visa Liberalisation Agreement With EU
Currently, all passport holders of Kuwait are required to obtain a Schengen visa in order to be permitted entry to the EU.
To make travel to the bloc more straightforward and hassle-free for its nationals, Kuwait has been pushing for some time now to reach a visa-free travel agreement with the EU.
The Foreign Minister of Kuwait, Abdullah Al-Yahya, said in September of last year that there are ongoing talks on the matter. The Minister further said that the country’s authorities are working to find alternatives to solve the visa issue until an agreement is reached.
While the Minister did not explain what these alternatives could be, it is believed that one of them is to ask the EU to facilitate some of the visa application rules.
Nationals of Kuwait filed a large number of Schengen visa applications every year. Statistics published by SchengenVisaInfo show that in 2023 alone, nationals of Kuwait filed a total of 179,444 visa applications.
Of this total, 166,598 Kuwaiti passport holders were granted the document whereas 12,069 of them had their Schengen visa application rejected.
The top three Schengen member states that granted the highest number of visas to Kuwaitis in 2023 are France, Germany, and Italy. These three countries granted 38,127, 33,817, and 30,224 Schengen visas to Kuwaitis, respectively.
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