You're reading: Kyiv hopes for complete association agreement ratification within three years

Ukraine hopes that the ratification of the European Union - Ukraine Association Agreement will have been completed within three years, said Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis.

“The experience of ratifying similar agreements suggests that the procedure could be completed within one to three years,” Perebyinis said at a press briefing on Tuesday, Sep. 16.

The agreement has been ratified by five European countries: Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Malta, he said.

It will be applied in full after it has been ratified by all 28 members of the European Union, Perebyinis said.

Perebyinis also said that European Union experts would be working in Ukraine from September 15 to 26 to assess compliance with the second phase in implementing the action plan for the liberalization of EU visa travel for Ukraine.

Experts are to look into ID security and the introduction of biometric passports; control over border crossing procedure, migration and refuge regulations.

The EU experts will meet with government executives in charge of issuing ID documents.

“We hope the European experts will register progress Ukraine has made in implementing the second phase of the action plan,” Perebyinis said.

Expert missions to assess other areas of compliance – Bloc 3 (maintenance of public order and security), and Bloc 4 (observance of human rights and liberties) are to be performed in November 2014, he said.