Brussels, 06/05/2011 (Agence Europe) Ukraine reacted fiercely on Thursday 5 May to a report published by Europol on 4 May stating that the future visa liberalisation system currently being negotiated with Kiev would cause major internal security problems for the European Union. The Ukrainian representative to the EU, Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, demanded that Europol remove the offending statements from its report.
In the 2011 report on organised crime, Europol says that relaxing the visa system for Ukraine could increase the dangers of smuggling via the Black Sea. Europol fears that organised crime from Albanian-sparking areas, Turkey and the former Soviet Union would take advantage of the relaxed visa requirements to expand their tentacles in the EU. In the report, Europol says that visa system could help criminals expand their people trafficking because Ukraine is already a prime location for cigarette counterfeiting and smuggling, and the port of Odessa is a hub for heroine and cocaine trafficking. The hard-line report has upset Ukrainian sensibilities. Kostiantyn Yelisieiev said it was unacceptable, undermining Europol's objectivity, and that in fact, the visa action plan proposed for Ukraine by the EU at the end of last year bore witness to the progress Kiev has made in tackling organised crime.
Ukraine is not the only country under the Europol spotlight, because it suggests that Bulgaria and Romania joining the Schengen Area could also be used by criminals to expand in the EU and organise illegal immigration across the borders between Greece and Turkey. (S.P./transl.fl)