Written explanations of vote - 8th parliamentary term Jasenko SELIMOVIC

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is of utmost importance for strengthening social cohesion, boosting unemployment and youth employment, but also helping address social challenges across the Union. The ESF+ will be more flexible, provide a better response in emergencies, it will assist in integrating migrants and reducing the administrative obstacles in the use of this fund. The ESF+ will help the EU to better tackle upcoming social, economic and labour market challenges. The fund will invest in social innovation, mobility, health and young people and will foster social inclusion and migrant integration and I am therefore convinced it will benefit millions of Europeans.

It is important to reduce restrictions regarding visa liberalisation and to enable citizen of third countries, such as Kosovo, to travel freely within the European Union. Kosovo has already last year fulfilled all the necessary conditions for visa liberalisation, but its citizens still remain the only ones in the Western Balkans who cannot travel freely to the European Union. I ask the Council to grant the citizens of Kosovo visa free travel without further delay.

. ‒ I support the report on the European peace facility (EPF) as it enables the Union to support military and defence operations in more flexible and effective ways. The EPF will help the European Union fulfil its role as a global actor and pursue a more concrete EU foreign policy. It will also increase the efficiency and flexibility of the EU’s external action as well as strengthen the EU’s security and development connection towards achieving sustainable peace.