The COVID-19 pandemic does not automatically affect the visa-free regime between Ukraine and the European Union, Deputy Director General of the European Commission for European Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations Katarina Mathernova has stated.

She said the visa-free regime, of course, is associated with certain conditions regarding reforms in the rule of law, etc., and they, of course, will continue to closely monitor these processes. But there is no reason to worry, there is no automatic link between the pandemic and the visa-free regime, she added. Of course, there are certain restrictions on movement both within the Schengen area and the EU, but these are only movement restrictions, and not an automatic link between the visa-free regime and the pandemic, she said during an online discussion at the Kyiv Security Forum.

In addition, Mathernova noted that now a preliminary assessment is being carried out in the virtual mode as part of the negotiations on the signing of the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA).

She also pointed out that now the level of relations between Ukraine and the EU is higher than ever.