A member of Kosovo’s ruling coalition was arrested on October 16 on suspicion of being involved in a visa scam. 

Kosovo is the last country in Europe whose nationals still require visas to visit EU countries, and visa liberalisation has been delayed as Pristina has so far failed to meet the final conditions set by Brussels — ratification of a border demarcation treaty with Montenegro, and progress in the fight against high-level corruption and organised crime. 

Milaim Zeka, a member of the Initiative for Kosovo (Nisma), was detained for 48 hours at the request of prosecutors, local media reported on October 16. Zeka only entered the parliament a few months ago; the former journalist was elected for the first time in the June general election. 

He is suspected of selling German working visas to Kosovan citizens for between €50 and €3,500 each through an agency he set up along with his business partner Ilir Krasniqi. 

The scam was first revealed by Kosovan investigative journalism portal Insajderi, which reported that 920 Kosovans had bought visas via the agency. Krasniqi was arrested in September and is being kept in detention, Gazeta Express reported. 

Zeka’s arrest will give more ammunition to the Kosovan opposition, in particular the anti-establishment Vetevendosje party, which came second in the June election, benefitting from the fact that many Kosovans were fed up with official corruption and high-level graft. 

Kosovo is considered one of the most corrupt countries in Europe, according to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International. It is ranked in 95th place out of 176 countries, below all other European countries except Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.