03/07/2019 (Agence Europe) – Albania meets the criteria for the visa liberalisation regime enjoyed by its citizens and the request of the Government of the Netherlands to suspend this visa-free regime is unfounded. This is the assessment that the European Commission made public on 3 July, when it had one month to reply to the Dutch government (see EUROPE 12267/10). “Following a careful assessment of the content of the notification received by the Netherlands and based on available information and relevant data, the Commission considers that in the current situation the circumstances to promote the free movement’s suspension mechanism are not met. The Commission will continue to closely monitor compliance with visa liberalisation standards for Albania and other countries benefiting from visa-free travel”, the Commission spokesperson said. (SP)