EU hopes to abolish visas for Ukrainians in 2016

Monday, January 26, 2015 - 16:06 (EET) Section: Latest news

The European Union hopes for the introduction of a visa-free regime with Ukraine in 2016.
Latvian Ambassador to Ukraine Argita Daudze said this on Monday during a press conference in Kiev, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.
“We consider the summit in Riga as a working event. We would like to achieve progress in the issue of the boundary crossing for Ukrainians, if that is possible. We want 2016 to become a year of introduction of a short-term visa-free regime for Ukraine and Georgia,” she said.
Daudze said that a political decision on visa-free regime would be based on an expert opinion on Ukraine’s readiness for this regime.
“We urge Ukraine to work on the implementation of the action plan for liberalization of visa regime,” Daudze said.
According to her, the introduction of biometric passports is an important step in this direction, but the European experts also expect further progress in prosecution and judiciary reforms, fight against corruption and organized crime.
“Expert report will be prepared ahead of the Riga Summit. The document will conclude whether Ukraine is ready for visa-free regime with the European Union, hopefully, in 2016,” the Latvian diplomat said.
As reported, Latvia will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2015.