Ukraine anxious about troubles it faces after Poland’s joining Schengen

On January 14, 2008 in connection with the situation which arose at the Ukrainian – Polish frontier, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mr.Kostyantyn Yeliseyev met with Ambassador of Poland to Ukraine Mr. Jacek Kluczkowski, according to the MFA press-office.

 Mr. Yeliseyev showed deep anxiety with the situation which had arisen at the checkpoints at the Ukrainian – Polish national border in connection with joining of Poland to the Schengen Agreement. He emphasized the necessity of sooner subscription of the Agreement on the Regulations of Local Border Traffic between Ukraine and Poland which would enable to simplify the border crossing procedure for residents of the boundary regions of Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian representative, this is the minimum which the both parties should do immediately in this sphere. Simultaneously, he emphasized that the urgent priority remains appropriate implementation of the Agreement on Simplified Visa Processing Procedure and start of the dialogue on the non-visa travel procedure for Ukrainian citizens with EU. According to Mr. Yeliseyev, the intent of Ukraine is to prevent by any means the Ukrainian borders with the EU member countries from turning into a barrier for trade, tourism and basic communication between relatives.

 The Deputy Minister also noted that anxiety of the Ukrainian party with the situation which had arisen at the Ukrainian – Poland frontier was appropriately reported to the European Commission.

 In response, the Ambassador assured of the willingness of the Polish party to accelerate elaboration of the said draft agreement which was being considered by the Polish party and to subscribe it in February.

 In the course of the conversation, the schedule of the bilateral contacts for the first quarter 2008 was discussed.

 The parties also considered preparation of Ukraine and Poland for the final part of the European Football Championship 2012 and acceleration of subscription of the respective bilateral agreement.