Ukraine ‘enraged’ by EU visa comments

Ukraine's EU ambassador Roman Shpek has criticised comments made by external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner over the issue of visas.

In an interview given earlier this week to Ukrainian newspaper Delo, Ferrero-Waldner said that the EU would not ratify its visa facilitation agreement with Kiev until Ukraine abolished visas for Romania and Bulgaria.

But Ukraine insists that this issue was already discussed during the annual EU-Ukraine summit earlier this month, during which Kiev announced that the visa-free regime for Bulgaria and Romania would only be extended and adopted following due internal procedures.

Shpek’s office told theParliament.com that Ukraine’s decision to establish a visa waiver scheme for EU citizens was done of its own volition in 2005, and that the EU therefore has “no grounds to demand … that such a regime be extended automatically to new member states”.

Furthermore, the ambassador voiced his displeasure over Ferrero-Waldner’s comments that Ukraine’s failure to extend the visa-free scheme would “affect the authority of the president, the prime minister and Ukraine itself”.

In a statement, the ambassador went on to criticise the EU over the practice of “groundless and humiliating” visa refusals to Ukrainian citizens in certain member states, as well as the activities of intermediary visa centres.

“Such a practice gravely contravenes the provisions of the visa facilitation agreement signed in June this year,” said the statement. 

Ukraine remains confident however that the issue of establishing a visa-free regime for Bulgaria and Romania, and ensuring swift visa issuance for Ukrainian citizens, can be settled.

In addition, a joint summit statement issued last week reaffirmed both Ukraine and EU intentions “to embark upon negotiations on a comprehensive free trade area as a core element of the new enhanced agreement”.

The annual bilateral meetings between Ukraine and the EU were established by the partnership and cooperation agreement ratified in 1998.

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