Ukraine has not received official signals from the European Commission about the threat of canceling the visa-free regime with the EU, Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko said.
“The issue of visa-free travel comes up from time to time in both the European and Ukrainian media. The Ukrainian side has not received official signals from the European Commission about the threat of canceling the visa-free travel with the EU. There is no reason for such a decision, and there cannot be,” Nikolenko told Interfax-Ukraine on Sept. 29.
The spokesperson said that on Aug. 4, the European Commission published the fourth report on the assessment of the implementation of visa liberalization requirements by the countries of the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership, in particular Ukraine, 2020 and the first half of 2021 were analyzed.
“The document contains a positive assessment of our state’s compliance with the criteria for a visa-free travel. Surely, there were recommendations to continue ‘homework’ to improve the management of migration processes and improve anti-corruption legislation. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has already invited individual EU member states and the European Commission to hold consultations to clarify certain provisions of the Ukrainian legislation. We expect that such expert consultations will take place in the near future,” he said.
Nikolenko said that at the same time Ukraine is completing the preparation of a national report on the fulfillment of the conditions for visa liberalization with the EU, where it will inform its European partners about the work on the recommendations of the European Commission.
“Ukraine is not a state with a high migration risk, and cooperation with the EU in the field of readmission as one of the key factors for the normal functioning of visa-free travel is going on at the proper level,” he said.
