Monday, October 24, 2016

President: Ukraine to have visa-free regime in late November

President Petro Poroshenko is confident that the visa-free regime for Ukrainians will have been introduced by November 24, when the Ukraine-EU Summit will take place in Brussels.

“I am confident that the documents on granting the visa-free regime for Ukraine will be signed and ratified by the European Parliament. I have no doubt about that. I can even say by what date this will have taken place - by November 24. Because on November 24, the Ukraine-EU Summit will take place and we agreed that the documents will be ready for that Summit,” the Head of State noted in the interview with Ukrainian TV channels.

According to Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine has enlisted the support of most political parties in the European Parliament. “It goes about the European People’s Party, socialists, liberals and conservatives. We have got absolute majority in the European Parliament regarding the ratification of the Agreement on the Visa-Free Regime,” the President said.
The President explained that the delay had been caused by the elaboration of the mechanism of suspension of the visa-free regime. However, it was related not to Ukraine, but to several countries of the Middle East. Now, negotiations with Ukraine have accelerated the consideration of that mechanism of suspension. It was particularly about the dispute between the authority of the European Parliament and the authority of the European Commission.
“I am really hopeful that consensus will be reached. Next week, the mechanism of suspension will be approved and consensus will be reached,” Petro Poroshenko said.
The President also emphasized that except for the visa-free regime, quotas for export of Ukrainian goods to the EU would be increased. “This is the first unilateral step of the EU in support of Ukraine,” he said. The Head of State assured that the negotiations on other groups of commodities would be continued. According to the President, Ukraine also expects progress in the issue of macrofinancial aid from the EU in the amount of EUR 600 million.
Petro Poroshenko also informed on the agreements on broadening cooperation with Norway and the agreements on multilateral support for Ukraine reached during his recent visit to Brussels and Maastricht.

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