12:23 03.02.2017

EU to grant visa-free travel regime to Ukraine in late May, regime to take effect in July

2 min read
EU to grant visa-free travel regime to Ukraine in late May, regime to take effect in July

The European Union will grant a visa-free travel regime to Ukraine in late spring and will begin its enforcement in summer 2017, the online edition Evropeiska Pravda said with reference to sources in the European Commission and the Council of the European Union.

"According to sources in the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, the visa-free travel regime for Ukraine will be approved in late spring and will be enforced in summer. There is a widely spread opinion that the Ukrainians will be visiting the EU without visas starting in July. Possibly, even on July 1," the newspaper said in an article titled 'Visa-free travel before vacations: the EU agrees on when to ponder visa-free travel regime for Ukraine' published on Thursday.

The EU needs to give final approval to the 'suspension mechanism' in order to unblock the consideration of Ukrainians' visa-free travel to European countries, it said. Presumably, the mechanism will be approved by the end of February. One may expect the dialogue in relation to Ukraine to begin in March (the process took only one day in the case of Georgia), with the document being translated and considered at the European Parliament; its approval by the Council of the European Union is due in May.

The EU visa-free travel regime in Ukraine will take effect in June if the sides keep to the schedule, it said.

"Judging by the EU decision-making procedure, the visa-free travel regime may be imposed on the border in June, and the Council of the European Union will make a definitive decision in May, after the presidential elections in France," it said.

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