The Committee of the European Parliament on Civil Liberties, Justice and Internal Affairs (LIBE) on March 9 approved the draft on the inclusion of Ukraine in the list of third countries whose citizens are canceled visa requirements.
The corresponding decision was made at a meeting of the committee on March 9 afternoon: 39 members of the committee voted “for”, four were “against” and one abstained.
Members of the committee also heard a short report of the committee member on civil liberties, justice and internal affairs of the European Parliament, Michal Boni.
The next step will be considering the issue of abolishing short-term visas for Ukrainian citizens by the European Parliament on April 5.
In his turn, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko welcomed the decision of the committee.
“I welcome the positive decision of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Internal Affairs on the introduction of a visa-free regime for Ukraine. I am grateful to the speaker, Maria Gabriel, and the members of the Committee for the support of Ukraine and an objective assessment of the reform efforts of the Ukrainian authorities on the proper implementation of the relevant criteria,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Poroshenko also instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to intensify the relevant work for the prompt adoption of a positive decision by the European Parliament.
As reported, on February 28, representatives of the European Parliament and the EU Council agreed on visa-free travel for Ukrainians to the EU member states.
On March 1, the EU Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament talked on granting a visa-free regime to Ukraine.
The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the European Union (COREPER) confirmed a decision reached within the framework of the triad on March 2.
Thus, the completion of the process of liberalization of the visa regime requires several more procedural issues, in particular, consideration and approval of the issue at the plenary session of the European Parliament, scheduled for April 5, and approval by the Council of the European Union.
After that, the document must be signed by the President of the European Parliament and the representative of the country presiding in the EU and published in the official journal of the EU.
The decision to introduce a visa-free regime will come into force 20 days after publication.
