European Parliament Approved Visa-Free Regime For Ukraine

The European Parliament has supported the proposition from the European Comission to grant a visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens on April, 6th.

Viza liberalization for Ukraine was approved by 521 votes to 75, with 35 abstentions during the plenary meeting of Europarliment in Stratsburg.

“Ukraine has achieved all the benchmarks, so the visa requirement should be lifted”, noted rapporteur for the proposal, Mariya Gabriel (Group of the European People’s Party (EPP), the European Parliament News writes. She also added that the visa waiver will be “another very strong message that Ukraine is a key partner for the European Union in the Eastern Partnership”.

The visa-free regime still needs to be formally adopted by the Council of Ministers. It is likely to come into force in June, 20 days after it is published in the EU Official Journal.

Under the new law, Ukrainians who hold an e-passport will be able to enter the EU without a visa for 90 days in any 180-day period, for tourism, to visit relatives and friends, or for business purposes, but not to work. The exemption applies to all EU countries, except Ireland and the UK, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.