The European
Union wants Ukraine to pass a set of judiciary and human rights reforms before
granting Ukrainian citizens visa-free access to the 28 countries of the bloc,
the head of the EU Commission told Ukraine's President in a letter
today (5 November).
Grappling with pro-Russian
separatists in the eastern part of the country, and a shattered economy,
Ukrainian authorities are keen to obtain better terms in their relations with
the EU.
An agreement on visa-free
travel for Ukrainian citizens to the European Union is seen in Kiyv as a key
priority to be achieved next year, when a free-trade pact with the EU is
expected to come into force despite Russian opposition.
"Progress in reforms in
the area of the fight against corruption remains a key priority for achieving
visa-free travel to the EU for Ukrainian citizens," EU Commission
President Jean-Claude Juncker said in the letter seen by Reuters.
EU visa-free travel agreements
usually concern specific groups of people who are more likely to travel, such
as researchers, businessmen or students.
In the document, sent to
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Juncker urges quick establishment of
independent anti-corruption bodies to reduce graft in the ex-Soviet state.
Ukraine should also amend
labour legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation, and should create an agency dedicated to recovering assets
confiscated from graft, Juncker told Poroshenko.
Lifting the visa obligation
for Ukrainians has been a longstanding demand by Kyiv. Ukrainians currently
need to get visas to visit the European Union, sometimes having to wait in
humiliating queues at EU embassies for days at a time. As many have family
members within the EU, frequent trips can become an ordeal.
Brussels has been insisting on
technical criteria, while Kyiv has been calling on the EU to issue a strong
political signal to the Ukrainians by lifting the visa barrier by the end of
this year.
The unprecedented migrant
crisis is hardly making Ukraine’s case easier. Recently, the European Asylum
Support Office (EASO) reported a spike in asylum seekers from Ukraine,
which started in March 2014, at the time of the Crimea invasion, and has
continued growing.
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