Visa-Free Regime Between EU, Ukraine Depends on Course of Reforms in Kiev

Ukraine has long sought a visa-free regime with the European Union. An EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, establishing a political and economic association between the bloc and the country, was signed in 2014, but it is yet to be ratified by all of the bloc's member states.

KIEV (Sputnik) — The introduction of a visa-free regime between Ukraine and the European Union depends on the ability of the Ukrainian parliament to pass legislations which will adhere to EU demands, European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn said Tuesday.

"I can assure [you] that we are set on moving forward. It is now up to the members of the Verkhovna Rada <…> Everything depends on enacted laws adhering to criteria discussed before," Hahn said, as quoted by German Deutsche Welle public broadcaster.

According to the agreement, Ukraine must adopt a wide range of reforms, including anti-corruption measures, improving public finance management, increasing decentralization and reorganizing the energy sector.

According to Hahn, Ukrainian legislation on electronic income declarations by officials have not reached the standards required by the European Union.

In January, a high ranking EU diplomatic source said that several members of the European Union were not ready to abolish the visa regime with Ukraine due to corruption concerns.