European Parliament approves visa-free travel for Ukrainians

RFE/RL
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:24 UTC

The European Parliament has approved visa liberalization for Ukraine, a crucial step toward enabling Ukrainians to travel to the European Union without obtaining visas.

The measure passed on April 6 by a vote of 521 to 75, with 36 EU lawmakers abstaining.

EU member states must also approve visa liberalization for Ukraine before the measure enters into force.

Ambassadors representing the 28 EU member states are expected to approve the deal when they meet in Brussels on April 26, and EU sources have told RFE/RL that EU ministers are expected to rubber-stamp the decision on May 11.

The deal would be sealed in a signing ceremony expected shortly after that.

Diplomats have expressed hope that the visa-free regime will enter into force in mid-June.

The decision will apply to all Ukrainian citizens who have biometric passports, including residents of the areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia-backed separatists and of Crimea, the Ukrainian region that Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Many in Ukraine, which saw Russia seize Crimea in 2014 and has been mired in a deadly conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the east for three years, see the visa deal as a symbol of closer ties to the EU.

The decision will apply to all Ukrainian citizens who have biometric passports. They will be able to enter most EU member states for up to 90 days during any 180-day period.

Visa-free travel to the EU for citizens of Georgia, another former Soviet republic under pressure from Russia, began on March 28.

Comment: Ukraine online passport service down after EU votes for visa-free travel

The state-operated Ukrainian website pasport.org.ua was not available on Tuesday, citing an exceeded resource limit. The service went down after the European Parliament voted in favor of granting Ukraine visa-free travel.

The website later returned, but a warning notified that it was not operational "for technical reasons."

This happened after the European Parliament voted 521 to 75 in favor of granting Ukrainian citizens entry into the EU with no visa. The promise of visa-free travel to Europe has been one of the core points for the current Ukrainian government, which came to power on the wave of protests in 2014.

The deadline for the fulfillment of the promise voiced by President Petro Poroshenko was pushed back many times, irritating voters. The president's approval rating in Ukraine is only just in double digits, as the country endures economic hardship, rampant corruption, hostilities in the east, and austerity measures imposed by the government at the demand of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Ukrainian president welcomed the news of the vote, which he received during a security forum in Kiev, a video published by his spokesman showed.

"I congratulate everyone who contributed to it! And all Ukrainians," he said before shaking hands with his former prime minister, Arseny Yatsenyk, and his successor Vladimir Groysman.