Europe opens for Ukrainians as EU Visa-free regime for Ukraine starts tonight

Monitoring Desk: Visa-free travel for citizens of Ukraine to EU countries will work from tonight (June 11 midnight), reports Dispatch News Desk (DND) news agency.

Ukraine has taken measures to control border points and Ukrainian State Fiscal Service and State Border Guard Service are preparing to step up controls at the border checkpoints and expect the passenger traffic through the border to grow by about 30% starting June 11 (tonight), when a free travel agreement between Ukraine and the European Union is to take effect.

“Controls at all checkpoints will be tightened and additional reserves employed on June 11,” Serhiy Tupalsky, the acting chief of the Kyiv city customs of the State Fiscal Service, told journalists at Kyiv Zhuliany Airport.

According to eTurboNews (eTN), the State Fiscal Service and State Border Guard Service expect the passenger traffic through the border to grow by about 30%, he said.

The number of aircraft and passengers and the amount of luggage crossing the border at Kyiv Zhuliany Airport has grown noticeably since the start of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016, Tupalsky said.

All Ukrainian border checkpoints are connected to the Interpol databases, and the State Border Service has recorded 3,800 alerts during border passage and identified over 1,000 wanted individuals and over 100 stolen cars in 2017, the Border Service said.

It may be mentioned that this development will open a world of new opportunities to people of Ukraine, particularly its youth to interact with Europe and take social benefits out of this historic development.

Ukraine suffered a lot in its quest to become part of Europe instead of Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union and now first opportunity of becoming a part of European world at lat knocks at the door of Kiev.

Ukrainian citizens with biometric passports will travel to EU countries without visa for short stays of up to 90 days except for Ireland and the UK. However, visa-waiver does not grant Ukrainians the right to work in the EU countries.