He Has a Dream: Poroshenko Hopes for Visa-Free Regime With EU in 2016

Ukraine seeks to establish a visa-free regime with the EU in 2016.

Ukraine hopes that the EU would grant the country a visa-free regime this year, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said during his New Year address to the nation.

"The paper curtain between Ukraine and the EU will collapse during the next year," Poroshenko said, according to RIA Novosti. "Our people will be able to freely visit Europe on business trips and as tourists, and take part in exchange programs. This process must be a two-way street."

However, in order to establish closer ties with Europe, Ukraine must first deal with the rampant corruption in the country, Poroshenko added.

"We have everything we need for this battle. We have established new and politically independent anti-corruption agencies," he claimed.

In September 2014, the Ukrainian parliament ratified the Association Agreement with the European Union and pledged to adopt legislation to meet the benchmarks set in EU’s Visa Liberalization Action Plan for Ukraine.

In December 2015 the European Commission said that Ukraine, along with Georgia, had carried out the reforms it promised to enact to win Brussels’ backing and the EC planned to make the formal legal recommendation for a visa-free regime between the EU and the countries in question in early 2016.