European Commission in Brussels published on May 08, 2015, Press release Commission assesses the implementation of Visa Liberalisation Action Plans by Ukraine and Georgia that praised progress made by Ukraine and Georgia towards lifting the requirement for EU travel visas but said more efforts are needed:
“The assessment found that, despite the exceptional circumstances that Ukraine currently faces, the progress achieved in the implementation of the second phase benchmarks of the VLAP has been noteworthy. The significant effort made by the Ukrainian authorities led to a coherent legislative framework and commitment to institutional reforms. Sustained efforts by all stakeholders involved will be needed to implement the recommendations included in the present report.”
“The key priority is the sustainable implementation of the legal and institutional framework, in particular in the areas of asylum, anti-corruption, organised crime, trafficking in human beings and anti-discrimination. Fulfilling the actions required in this report would allow Ukraine to complete its implementation of all the VLAP’s second-phase benchmarks.”
Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos said:
“The visa liberalisation dialogue is an important driver of reforms in the area of Justice and Home Affairs. Georgia and Ukraine showed great commitment in fulfilling the VLAP benchmarks under the second phase. It is crucial that this hard work continues in the months to come.”
“The Commission will continue to monitor and to do its utmost to support Georgia and Ukraine throughout the process, as it has been doing in the past years and will report on progress by the end of 2015.”
Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said:
“We are aware that Georgia and Ukraine have both expressed their desire to obtain visa free status at the Riga summit. But of course this was a very ambitious goal in terms of timing.”
