Original article (in Serbian) was published on 23/04/2022
Last week, many media outlets reported (1, 2, 3, 4, 5…) on the new European Union travel information and authorization system (ETIAS), which is expected to be implemented next year. All citizens of countries that “meet the conditions to be part of the ETIAS system” will have to fill out an online form and pay a fee of 7 euros before entering the EU.
However, the website of N1 television and several other domestic media (1, 2) announced that the mentioned fee would be paid only by the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and not by the holders of Serbian, Montenegrin and Kosovo passports.
“While the holders of passports of Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo will submit an electronic request, which can take up to 30 days to process, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina will also have to pay seven euros”, N1 writes, referring to Croatian RTL, and once again emphasizing that “Serbian citizens will apply online, and the permit will be issued to them free of charge”.
However, this does not correspond to the truth because the fee of 7 euros will be paid by the citizens of more than 60 countries that “meet the conditions to be part of the ETIAS” system, and Serbia is among them. This was confirmed to FN Tragac by the European Commission.
“Once ETIAS is operational, citizens of non-EU countries who do not need a visa to enter the EU, and plan to travel to the Schengen area, will have to apply for travel authorization through the ETIAS system before their trip. The ETIAS authorization will cost 7 euros, which will be a one-time fee. It will be valid for three years for multiple entries into the EU”, it was confirmed to FN Tragac.
The EU executive also added that “it will take only a few minutes to complete the online application” and that “in the vast majority of cases (over 95%), the result will be automatic approval”. They also note that, according to current plans, ETIAS should become operational from May 2023.
What is ETIAS for?
ETIAS is an automated electronic system of the European Union created to identify potential security risks during the migration of passengers entering the Schengen area without a visa. Before entering the Schengen zone, those passengers will have to submit an electronic application for travel approval through the ETIAS system and pay a fee of 7 euros, which the domestic websites wrote about.
Once passengers have filled in the online application form, ETIAS will carry out checks on EU border and security information systems and – in the vast majority of cases – issue a travel authorization within minutes. An ETIAS travel permit will be a mandatory precondition for entering the Schengen area and will need to be attached to travel documents when crossing EU borders.
How did the information that the citizens of Serbia will not pay the fee for the ETIAS travel permit reach N1?
In its text, the website of N1 television refers to the Croatian media RTL. However, when searching the website of this media for texts about the ETIAS system, there is no information that says that the payment of the license fee will not be valid for the citizens of Serbia. In RTL’s text, published a few hours before the controversial news appeared on N1, there is striking disinformation that BiH citizens will have to pay when crossing the Croatian border “every time”, but there is no mention that Serbian citizens will not pay compensation.
“Due to the introduction of the ETIAS system, an electronic application will have to be submitted for each entry into the EU, and the processing will take 30 days. This also applies to the citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo”, RTL writes in the version of the text that was available during the preparation of this analysis.