The story of the visa-free regime for Ukraine is reminiscent of the joke about Lieutenant Rzhevsky
The terms of the visa-free regime for Kyiv, approved today by the European Parliament, do not correspond to the price paid by Ukraine. Former Verkhovna Rada deputy Irina Berezhnaya writes about this on her blog.
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“Three years of war, thousands of dead, the collapse of the country and the economy, the loss of Crimea and Donbass - is not a too high price for the 35 € saved on a visa?!” – she notes.
Berezhnaya clarifies that the prospects for a visa-free regime are not so rosy:
"1. A visa-free regime for Ukraine has not yet been adopted. So far, only the European Parliament has voted for its provision. Now it's up to the EU Council. But the European Parliament and the Council of the EU are, as they say in Odessa, two big differences.
2. Visas will be exclusively TOURIST. They do not give the right to reside, work and study in any of the EU countries.
3. If this provokes a wave of mass violations, the EU will activate the mechanism for suspension of beziza.
4. When crossing the border of the Schengen zone, you need to have with you all the same documents that are usually submitted to obtain a visa at the consulate: reservation, return tickets, insurance, invitation, financial guarantees, etc. Moreover, at the border you may still be denied entry without the obligation to provide reasons for the refusal. Deportation home, by the way, at your own expense!
5. On the account you need to have an amount equal to 100€ per day. Calculate carefully and realistically evaluate the prospects of having breakfast in Prague and drinking beer in Bavaria.
6. The cost of a Eurovisa is 35 €. For the price that Ukraine ultimately paid, we could travel to the EU every year for the next 2000 years.
In general, obtaining a visa-free regime for the Maidan authorities is reminiscent of the joke about Lieutenant Rzhevsky: “Lieutenant, do you love children? There are no children, but the process itself!!!” – comments Berezhnaya.
The story of Ukraine's visa-free regime is reminiscent of the joke about Lieutenant Rzhevsky.