Good news befalls the citizens for Ukraine, as European Council President Donald Tusk has announced that Ukrainian Citizens will be able to travel to most European Union countries without a visa. The announcement was made at a meeting of the Ukrainian and European Union leaders in Brussels on the 24th of November 2016. Tusk said that country had “perfectly†met relevant standards and in the coming weeks, EU officials will work out how to implement the scheme.
(L-R) Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine, Jean Claude-Juncker and Donald Tusk.
This visa-free scheme will allow Ukrainians who hold a biometric passport to enter the Schengen area, and some non-EU areas such as Iceland and Switzerland – but not the UK or Ireland – without a visa for up to 90 days.
According to Tusk, “the last three years have seen the birth of a new Ukraine that advances its democracy and economy through sometimes very tough reformsâ€. He also mentioned that all EU states had come into agreement that Ukraine was ready for a visa-free regime, and that it would come into fruition the moment the European Parliament and the European Council agreed on changes to the EU’s visa policy.
For nearly three years, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has been promising citizens visa-free travel to the EU, it was a part of a partnership accord signed in 2014 that angered officials from Russia – now with this change, he is able to fulfill his promise. Citizens will also be able to travel to Russia without a visa.
