Ukrainians soon to travel to EU on ‘simplified’ basis
The fourth round of Ukraine-EU talks on visa relaxation and readmission was a success: the negotiating process is drawing to a close, and the European side has agreed that abolishing visas is the ultimate goal, as far Ukrainian citizens’ travel to the EU is concerned.
This was announced in Brussels during an interview with Interfax- Ukraine by Mykola Maimeskul, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was at the head of the Ukrainian delegation. According to the Ukrainian official, the agreement on visa relaxation “is technically ready. All we have to do is clean it up, so that it will be ready for initialing and signing in the next few weeks.”
The deputy minister also said that the negotiators managed to considerably broaden the category of Ukrainian citizens who will be authorized to travel to EU countries on a simplified basis. “This is a very large category. We agreed that there will be multiple-entry five- year visas for many citizens of Ukraine, one-year visas for a number of categories, and free visas for those who really need them — above all, students, journalists, academics, sportsmen, children, the disabled, and pensioners,” the Ukrainian diplomat noted.
Speaking of the negotiations on a readmission agreement, the most difficult one for the two sides, Maimeskul said that “serious progress” has been achieved. “This agreement is very difficult to implement, and we had a very serious discussion today on this matter. After signing this agreement, Ukraine would have had to carry it out in full, but we have a number of problems that do not allow us to prepare for such implementation. We therefore requested that Ukraine be given financial, technical, material, and organizational assistance. I must say that we found complete understanding on the part of our European partners,” Maimeskul said.
This assistance is aimed at developing the Ukrainian-Russian border, improving Ukraine’s western border, and maintaining facilities for housing third-country illegal migrants. “Let us not forget that we are a very serious transit country, and this entails major budget expenditures. We have found complete understanding here, and now we should work on Ukraine’s priority requirements in this matter,” the Ukrainian diplomat underlined, adding that this aid will be envisioned in a separate EU program.
“We have practically finished drawing up this agreement, too. If you remember, I told you on Feb. 27 (the date of the previous round of talks — Ed.) that we have a number of problems. Today I want to say that we have made great progress on this agreement as well. I hope that in the next month or two we will finally resolve some problems and be ready to sign the whole package of documents.” He also added that experts will gather again in early September to settle “two or three outstanding questions.”
Maimeskul has not ruled out that the agreement might be signed as early as this October, during the scheduled Ukraine-EU summit. He also confirmed that the current bilateral agreements on visa relaxation between Ukraine and the new EU members — Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic countries — will be in force until these countries join the Schengen Treaty area.
Asked by the news agency to comment on some media reports that the EU has allegedly withdrawn the clause on the likely cancellation of the visa regime between Ukraine and the European Union from the new expanded Ukraine-EU agreement now being drafted, Maimeskul said, “This is the first time that I have heard that something is being canceled; we are getting ready for the talks now. But you reminded me of a very positive detail: the EU agreed today that the visa relaxation agreement will be just the first step towards a visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens. Moreover, we clearly stated in the draft agreement that the abolition of visas is a long-term goal, as far as conditions for our citizens’ travels are concerned.”
