Brussels, 04/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Ukrainian authorities have decided to suspend the visa regime for Swiss and European nationals visiting Ukraine for four months for the Eurovision Song Contest (to be held this year in Kiev in May). The Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko signed a decree bringing in a visa-free regime from 1 May to 1 September 2005. A press release indicates that the objective of the decree is to ensure a “genuine opening-up of Ukrainian society, the concretisation of the Ukrainian strategy with a view to its integration into the European Union, bringing about a climate of adequate investment, the active development of human contact, diplomacy and tourism”. On the basis of the experience acquired over the four months, the Ukrainian authorities may decide to extend the visa exemption regime beyond the month of September.
In the meantime, the EU and Ukraine are preparing for bilateral talks on the facilitation of visa procedures. At the meeting of the EU ministerial troika with Ukraine, in Kiev last week, the European Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, voiced her hopes that negotiations on this subject may begin in a few months and certainly before the EU/Ukraine Summit to take place next October (see EUROPE n° 8918, p.4).