European Union countries have ordered 3,920 Kosovo citizens to leave during 2025, presenting a 9.5 per cent increase compared to the previous year, when 3.580 cases were recorded.

According to official Eurostat data, analysed by SchengenVisaInfo. com, Kosovo was the only Western Balkan country that marked an increase in the number of EU countries’ orders for evacuation. Meanwhile, for other countries in the region, decline has been recorded, while the total number for the Western Balkans has dropped by 13.6 percent.

After Kosovo, in the region, the largest number of outgoing orders marked Albania’s citizens, with 11,960 cases, although this figure was 20.4 percent lower than in 2024.

Serbia registered 4,780 orders, 11.4 per cent less than a year ago. While 2,380 cases were recorded for Bosnia and Herzegovina, for northern Macedonia 2,030 and for Montenegro 350. All these countries marked declines compared to the previous year.

The year 2025 was the second year Kosovo citizens benefited from the possibility of visa-free travel to the Schengen area, right to take effect on 1 January 2024.

According to published data, Kosovars ranked third in the region in the number of outgoing orders, after Albanians and Serbs. In fact, their number was higher than that of American citizens, for whom 2,350 commands were recorded, and British, with 1,750 cases.

France was the state that contributed most to the increase in the number of Kosovo exit orders. French authorities issued 1,575 orders during 2025, or 43 percent more than in 2024, when 1,100 cases were recorded.

After France, the largest number of orders were recorded in Germany with 580, Sweden with 340, Croatia with 305 and Belgium with 250 cases.

Increases in the number of orders also marked Hungary, from 120 to 215, as well as Finland, from 130 to 165. On the other hand, Slovenia issued only 70 orders, compared to 1.640 in 2023.

Of the 3,920 Kosovars who were ordered to leave, 3,245 were men and 675 women. Among them were 335 children under the age of 18. This percentage is higher than the European Union average for all citizenships, which was 5.8 percent.

However, the number of orders for the removal of Kosovo citizens remains lower compared to 2019, when 5,295 cases were recorded.

It should be noted that an order to leave does not necessarily imply the expulsion of the person. It presents an authority’s decision that an individual’s position on a state’s territory is irregular and that it must leave within a certain deadline. In some cases, the decision may be accompanied by bans on entry into the Schengen area.

Meanwhile, Kosovo citizens who travel visa-free to the Schengen area have the right to stay up to 90 days within a 180-day period. Since October 2025, the Login-Day System ( The European Union’s EES enables automatic registration and accounting of travel attitudes.