If a visa-free regime is nevertheless granted to Kyiv, this will be good, but we should not forget that European border guards look at the passports of Ukrainian citizens with undisguised contempt.
These observations were shared in his blog by Kiev political scientist Sergei Belashko, who is also the head of a travel agency.
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“1) Visa-free is certainly good, as a traveler and travel agent I can definitely say. There will be much less time and money spent, more opportunities for spontaneous trips and operational planning.
2) The humiliating procedure of proving worthiness is not going away, it’s just becoming much less expensive and tedious.
3) The question is not only, not even so much, about money. A Schengen visa is relatively cheap, especially if you do not open it through a CC. Visas from India, Tanzania, Sri Lanka are more expensive, the UAE, Iran are much more expensive, the USA, Britain are many times more expensive. It also doesn’t depend on documents - anything can be “drawn”, and at the consulates almost no one checks anything other than formal availability.
The main problem is the status of the Ukrainian passport, which border guards of EU countries often look at with outright contempt. And no visa-free regime will fix this,” stated Belashko.