The agreements were initialled by Justice, Freedom and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini and Interior Ministers Bujar Nishani of Albania, Tarik Sadovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Jusuf Kalemperovic of Montenegro.
Speaking to reporters after the initialling ceremony, Frattini described the agreements as an important political step forward on the road of the three countries to EU membership, saying that the documents established a new regime of free travel for citizens of the Western Balkans.
The EU commissioner said that Albania today initialled only a visa facilitation agreement as it had already initialled a readmission agreement. He added that Macedonia had concluded the negotiations and that it would initial such agreements at a later date.