EU Parliament to Sign Visa-Free Regime With Ukraine Until November 24

KIEV (Sputnik) – The European Parliament will sign and ratify documents on establishing a visa-free regime with Ukraine before November 24, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Sunday.

“I am sure that the documents on granting Ukraine the visa-free regime would be fully signed and ratified by the European Parliament. I can even say before which date – that will occur before November 24. Why? Because on November 24 the Ukraine-EU summit will take place and we agreed that the documents will be ready at the summit,” Poroshenko told the Ukrainian television broadcasters in an interview.

After toppling former President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, Kiev signed an association agreement opening with Brussels, opening the way for Ukraine's integration into the bloc. It was formally ratified by all EU member states but the Approval Act for the ratification of the deal, adopted by the Dutch parliament in 2015, has not entered into force yet.

In December 2015, the European Commission gave a positive assessment of Ukraine successfully meeting all benchmark requirements necessary for the liberalization of the visa regime with the Schengen zone.

In September, the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs supported a report and a draft resolution on granting Ukraine a visa-free regime with the European bloc.