Visa-free travel for Ukrainians to the EU
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Relations between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine are shaped through the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement and also by the Eastern Partnership and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of the EU. The EU is seeking an increasingly close relationship with Ukraine, going beyond co-operation, to gradual economic integration and deepening of political co-operation. Ukraine is a priority partner within the ENP and forms a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) with the EU.
The association agreement was initiated in 2012, but the Ukrainian government suspended preparations for signing the association agreement on 21 November 2013, during the presidency of pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych, who attended the EU summit in Vilnius on 28–29 November 2013 where the association agreement was originally planned to be signed but it was not. The decision to put off signing the association agreement led to pro-EU Euromaidan movement. These led to the removal of Yanukovych and his government by parliament after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution in February 2014. Since then, Ukraine has been striving towards integration into the European Union whilst the eastern part of the county has been engaged in pro-Russian unrest, opposing the Euromaidan movement.
The political part of the Association Agreement was signed on 21 March 2014 by the new Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Meanwhile, the EU has attempted to stabilize Ukraine by freezing assets of allegedly corrupt Russians and Ukrainians and by granting financial aid to Ukraine. The economic part of the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement was signed on 27 June 2014 by the new President, Petro Poroshenko. On January 1, 2016, Ukraine joined the DCFTA with the EU. Ukrainian citizens were granted visa-free travel to the Schengen Area for up to 90 days during any 180-day period on 11 June 2017 and the Association Agreement formally came into effect on 1 September 2017.
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Wikipedia