After enjoying practically unrestricted travel to Eastern European countries for nearly a decade, Ukrainians are about to pay the price for their nation’s economic downfall, which has pushed many of the country’s unemployed across the borders to work illegally.
The Czech Republic said last week that it would be the first in the region to impose visas for travelers from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
Dushan Doskochil, consul at the Czech Embassy in Kyiv, said the Czech government decided Feb. 2 to annul visa-free travel agreements with the three countries.
The new visa regulations would become effective two months after the Czech government officially informs Kyiv of its decision to introduce visas, which it was planning to do later this month, Doskochil told the Post.
Officially, the Czech government’s move is linked to the country’s intention to join the European Union, which requires tougher border regulations with neighboring and less-developed non-member states.
Poland, Slovakia and Hungary – three other candidates for EU membership where visa-free travel arrangements with Ukraine are in place – are also expected to act on the issue in the near future.
The four states are practically the only countries in Europe that Ukraine signed visa-free travel agreements with after becoming independent in 1991.
Only minor restrictions applied: Ukrainians were required to produce a certain amount of hard currency at the border and proof that they had paid for their accommodations.
For the Czech Republic, the need to comply with EU membership requirements was the primary reason behind introducing visas for Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan.
But crime and the problem of illegal workers sneaking into the Czech Republic from economically depressed neighboring countries also play a role, Kavan said in comments carried by news agencies from Prague.
However, Czech media said that the new visa requirements will be unlikely to reduce the country’s unemployment rate because few Czechs would be interested in low-salaried, unskilled jobs mostly done by illegal workers.
Stemming the flow of unskilled workers might actually hurt certain sectors. The country’s construction and textile industries and small businesses depend on cheap labor from foreign workers. The move could cause prices to jump if businesses were suddenly forced to hire costlier workers, the Czech daily Lidove Noviny wrote Feb. 5.
With an average monthly salary in Ukraine at a meager $40, the country has become a key supplier of illegal workers to the Czech Republic over the past several years.
According to Czech diplomats in Kyiv, about half of 21,000 foreigners expelled from the republic last year were Ukrainian citizens. Another 100,000 Ukrainians failed to return home in 1999 after visiting the Czech Republic and most likely stayed there illegally, by the same accounts.
Despite the worrying statistics, Ukrainian officials said the Czech Republic’s decision to impose visas was not justified.
Oleh Hrushko, spokesman at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, said the government already has notified the Czech Embassy in Kyiv of its ‘concern’ over the country’s intention to halt free travel from Ukraine.
Hrushko said Ukraine would retaliate by taking ‘analogous measures’ if the Czech Republic does introduce visas.
The visa announcement also immediately drew ire from Russia, whose government said the new travel regulations would undermine ties between the two countries.
In case the Czech Republic clings to its decision to impose visas, Slovakia might find itself in a position to follow.
Slovak diplomats in Kyiv told the Post last year their country would coordinate border controls with other Eastern and Central European states and, primarily, with the Czech Republic.
Slovakia has an open border with the Czech Republic, so Bratislava and Prague would likely have to introduce visa requirements for Ukrainians simultaneously, the diplomats said.
However, Slovakia does not have any immediate plans to introduce visas for Ukraine and soon plans to launch consultations with the Czech side about the issue, Pavel Vizdal, spokesman for the Slovak Consulate in Kyiv, told the Post.
Polish officials also said earlier this year they were planning to gradually introduce visas for travelers from most of the former Soviet republics in the coming years.
Poland, however, would be the least likely among Eastern European states bordering Ukraine to impose visas. The country’s less economically developed eastern regions rely heavily on trade with neighboring Ukraine.
