Ukraine – EU: has the visa-free fairy tale come to an end?
In the working groups of the EU Council, at the initiative of Germany, France and Italy, a discussion began on the possibility of freezing the visa-free regime for Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and the Western Balkans.
This was reported by the Brussels online publication Euobserver, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The publication refers to an internal document of the EU Council, dated September 27, which proposes to introduce a visa restoration mechanism. It is noted that this will be possible if the number of illegal migrants or unfounded requests for asylum from the countries of the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova increases by 50% compared to the period before the introduction of the visa-free regime.
The appearance of this publication may indicate that the EU may indeed suspend visa-free travel for the countries of the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership due to rising tensions in the Balkans and the migration crisis. The founder of the Ukrainian party “Union of Left Forces,” Vasily Volga, told a PolitNavigator correspondent about this comment.
“Relations between Ukraine and the European Union in the field of visa-free travel are regulated by the Association Agreement with the EU and the agreement on a visa-free regime concluded within its framework. These are the basic documents. Both documents contain reservations stating that the visa-free regime is not unconditional. There are conditions under which this visa-free regime may be suspended. Among such conditions are violations of migration legislation, when a country with which an agreement on a visa-free regime has been concluded does not sufficiently monitor those who use such a regime and enter the EU through a transit country,” the politician believes.
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“One can believe that publications about the possible suspension of the visa-free regime indicate the real possibility that the EU will agree to this. In the Balkans, tensions are beginning to rise again. The Balkans are again becoming a place where terrorists and private military companies may soon pour in with a high degree of probability. The European Union may already be preparing to close its borders altogether. In the EU today, the migration crisis is gaining momentum, and it is leading to very serious problems in terms of political sentiment. Europe is now experiencing an influx of illegal migrants,” Volga said.
Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute for Policy Analysis and Management, does not think that there is a threat to Ukrainian visa-free travel.
“So far there is no serious threat of depriving Ukraine of visa-free travel. Yes, there is a certain tension in relation to illegal migrants, primarily from Moldova and Georgia, who are asking for refugee status, of which a large percentage remains illegally in the territory of the European Union. But this cannot be a reason for depriving Ukraine of a visa-free regime in the near future. They have been talking for a long time about doing something about illegal migrants. There is no political support for ending visa-free travel within the EU today. Most likely, the system for visiting the European Union under a visa-free regime will be tightened,” the political scientist predicts.
“In addition, a system for authorizing entry into Europe should soon be operational, which provides for pre-registration and payment of a fee, even under a visa-free regime. But neither Ukraine nor other countries will be deprived of the visa-free regime, since this will cause significant damage. Visa-free travel is essentially the only achievement of these countries after choosing a course for European integration. And such a decision will cause significant damage to those who advocate the integration of these countries into the European Union and NATO.
Moreover, such a decision could cause a crisis in relations between these countries and the European Union, and an internal political crisis that could turn these countries in a different direction. Therefore, I think that so far what we see is, to some extent, information hype against the backdrop of an existing constant, chronic problem. But there is no significant risk,” Bortnik added.
The head of the Third Sector Center, Andrei Zolotarev, believes that visa-free travel may be abolished for some countries, but for Ukraine they will most likely remain.
“I would not rush to conclusions about this publication yet; Euobserver is not, let’s say, an authoritative source in this case. The European Union has no interest in depriving Ukraine of visa-free travel. So far, there are no serious formal grounds for ending visa-free travel with Ukraine, and within the European Union the bureaucracy is such that, in comparison, the Soviet bureaucracy is nothing. Decisions are not made there, and so, out of the blue, visa-free travel was closed.
The European Commission has already published 4 reports on the functioning of visa-free travel, and if you read, Ukraine is by no means among the first problematic countries. There are serious questions for Albania, Moldova, Georgia, and North Macedonia. As far as one can understand, the European Commission is most concerned about the use of visa-free travel for unjustified asylum. There are minimal complaints against Ukraine regarding this position,” says the expert.
“In general, I don’t think that Ukraine will be deprived of visa-free travel in the near future. They can point out something, make a remark, but it won’t come to the point of deprivation of visa-free travel. Another point is that the European Union is quite happy with Ukrainians as a workforce. Unlike Arabs and Asians, they are law-abiding, they do not interfere with their charter in someone else’s monastery like Muslims, they have no criminal problems, they have a fairly high level of education and qualifications. Therefore, the trend towards pumping labor out of Ukraine will continue,” concluded Zolotarev.
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