The Parliament has consistently shown solidarity by condemning Russia’s military involvement and illegal annexation of Crimea and promoting political and economic reforms.

In April 2017 MEPs voted in favour of enabling Ukrainians with a biometric passport to travel to the EU without a visa. This is only for travel and will not give them the right to work in the EU. In addition it does not apply to Ireland and the UK. Once adopted, the rules could already enter into force this summer.

In 2016 13.9 million short-stay visas were issued. Most of the visas issued were for people from Russia (3.1 million), followed by China (2.1 million) and Ukraine (1.36 million). Most of the people from Ukraine visited Poland (560,000), Hungary (117,000) and Germany (99,000).