EU Parliament, Council Negotiators Agree Free Travel for Ukrainians

Representatives of the European Parliament and the European Council informally agreed on Tuesday to waive EU visa requirement for Ukrainian citizens, the EU Parliament's press service said.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The press service said in a statement that Ukrainian citizens will be able to travel to the EU visa free under an informal deal struck by Parliament and Council negotiators on Tuesday.

"Once the change enters into force, and provided they have biometric passports, they will be able to enter the EU for up to 90 days in any 180-day-period for business, tourist or family purposes," the statement said.

According to the document, the deal has to be endorsed by the Civil Liberties Committee and Parliament as a whole, before being formally approved by the Council of Ministers.

The EU-Ukraine dialogue on visa liberalization was launched in 2008, while in November 2010 the European Union proposed Kiev an action plan for granting visa-free regime. The European Commission confirmed that Ukraine met all necessary conditions in December 2015.

In December 2016, the European Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission reached an agreement on an emergency suspension mechanism to be triggered in case of overwhelming migration. Such an agreement has been among the conditions raised by the council for the liberalization of the visa regime for Ukraine and Georgia.