Serbia celebrates visa-free EU travel

BELGRADE, Serbia, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Serbs Saturday were celebrating the first day of being able to travel throughout most of the European Union without visas, observers said.

Serbian officials marked the occasion by paying for European trips for 50 citizens aboard a plane that left Belgrade at midnight Saturday, just as the visa restrictions were expiring, Novinite reported.

The news service said the 50 were selected through the "Europe for Everyone" project, chosen because they all showed "exceptional leadership skills and hard work in helping their communities."

Under the new EU rules, citizens of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro can travel visa-free to all countries that have signed the Schengen Agreement, which includes most of the EU.

Travelers from Serbia and the other two Balkan nations can take advantage of visa-free travel if they possess biometric passports, the BBC reported.