KYIV. May 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – On Monday in Brussels, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, discussed the implementation of a visa-free regime for Ukraine and preparation for the upcoming Riga summit.
“Particular attention was paid to the issue of further movement towards the introduction of a visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens. Avramopoulos admitted that considerable progress had been achieved by Ukraine in carrying out the criteria of the second phase of the action plan on visa liberalization, which was noted in the report of European Commission (EC) on the state of its implementation dated May 8. He confirmed that the European Commission was ready to provide as much support as possible for our country to finish the issues left [to be settled] to achieve the desired goal – cancelation of visas for Ukrainian citizens,” the Foreign Ministry’s press service reported.
Avramopoulos said that the EC was ready to prepare its next report on Ukraine’s implementation of the visa liberalization action plan.
Klimkin spoke about the specific steps Ukraine had already taken and was planning to take in order to follow the recommendations specified in the EC’s report.
The parties also discussed the preparation for the Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga on May 21-22. Ukraine noted that the summit should end with a clear signal on the deadline of the introduction of visa-free travel for Ukrainian citizens.
The parties supported the creation of a joint border guard and customs control between Ukraine and EU member states. They also discussed cooperation on the EU Visa information System in which is due to begin operating June 23.
Klimkin and Avramopoulos positively assessed the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Agreement regarding Visa Processing Liberalization.
Klimkin also invited Avramopoulos to visit Ukraine soon.
