EU should grant visa-free regime to Ukraine, - EP's rapporteur Gabriel

The European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is offered to approve a proposal to add Ukraine to the list of third countries whose nationals are exempt from the requirement to obtain visas in order to cross the external borders of the member states.

Mariya Gabriel, the rapporteur on granting Ukraine a visa-free regime with the EU, said at today's LIBE meeting, Censor.NET reports.

"Ukraine has made the necessary progress and has fulfilled all the benchmarks set in the action plan," Gabriel noted.

The rapporteur welcomes the fact that the visa liberalization dialogue has proved to be an effective tool with which to promote difficult and far-reaching reforms, particularly in the field of justice and internal affairs.

She recalls that Ukraine has set up four key anti-corruption institutions.

Gabriel has also taken account of the risks in terms of migration and security, pointing out that the current refusal rate for EU visas for Ukrainian citizens is below 2 percent.

Finally, the rapporteur believes that by voting in favor of this proposal, the European Parliament will be confirming the principle whereby every country that meets all the benchmarks can benefit from visa liberalization.

She also points out that Ukraine should continue fulfilling the criteria which led to liberalization after the decision has entered into force.

As noted, the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs plays a major role in granting a visa-free regime to third countries.