A group of Members of the
European Parliament published an open letter to the leaders of the European
Union requesting them to grant Ukraine a visa-free regime, according to an
UNIAN correspondent in Brussels.
31 MEPs have
signed the letter addressed to Donald Tusk, President of the European Council,
Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini,
and profile EU Commissioners. The letter was signed by Petras
Austrevicius, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Rebecca Harms,
Andrej Plenkovic, and others.
“We are
convinced that unconditional granting the visa free regime to Ukraine -- as
well as to Georgia, which has also done a considerable progress in the areas
concerned -- would reflect the genuine European Union's commitment to the
Eastern Partnership which is all the more urgent given the enormous military,
political, economic and propaganda pressure on these associated partners of the
EU. Moreover, it would reinforce the determination of Ukraine -- as well as of
Georgia -- to continue on this path of reforms facilitating a positive
democratic change in these countries,” reads the letter.
The MEPs
believe that “due to our joint efforts the Ukrainian and Georgian people will
become the beneficiaries of the visa free regime already next year.”
In
particular, the MEPS said they “would like to draw the Council´s and the
European Commission´s attention to the substantial progress achieved to date by
Ukraine in fulfilling the necessary requirements from the visa-liberalisation
package.”
They noted
two crucial areas -- anti-corruption and anti-discrimination. “This
legislation, including the law on the National Agency of Ukraine for
Identifying, Tracing and Managing Assets Derived from Corruption, opens a way
for introducing a completely new instrument in Ukraine in the area of fight
against corruption aimed, first of all, at improving routine life of the
ordinary Ukrainian citizens,” they said.
“In
addition to this, the introduction of an anti-discrimination amendment to the
Labour Code has proven that the Ukrainian authorities and society support human
rights in all its manifestations that is an encouraging symptom of enhancing
democracy in Ukraine initiated by the Revolution of Dignity. It should be
noted, that these laws were adopted with a strong parliamentary majority which
only proves Ukraine´s commitment and a strong political will regarding the
Association agenda and reform process,” said the MEPs.
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