— Visa-free epic comes to the end: on May 11, the EU Council must finally approve the cancellation of visas for Ukrainians and a month later the decision will come into force, Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Feldman notes.
— Despite being afraid of committing the same mistakes once again, the representatives of authorities report about the ‘victory’ and hope that the visa-free regime distracts the attention of citizens from vital problems. Unfortunately, the number of these problems increases every day and the possibility to save 30 euro on the trip abroad is not the most vital one.
Of course, it would be naïve to criticize the authorities for visa-free campaign hype, as well as there was no need in gloating over all public embarrassments due to the postponements. But I consider the ‘visa-free euphoria’ the biggest mistake, which generated the myths about the fact that we’ve already built a European country and all the purposes are reached.
First, the cancellation of short-term Schengen visas does not make the perspective of the membership in the EU closer and does not simplify the Ukrainians’ ability to work in Europe. Perhaps, it is for the better: Ukraine already suffers from the outflow of the working-age and skilled youth that has nothing to stay here for.
Second, the visa-free regime is available only for the owners of biometric passports, while only a little more than a million persons in Ukraine have them. Moreover, to travel abroad, people will still need to collect the documents, which may be checked on the border: health insurance, return tickets, confirmation of the availability of housing and paying capacity…
But the main thing is the financial gap between the incomes of Ukrainians and Europeans. Exactly it basically makes the visa-free regime with the Schengen area timely only for 3-5 percent of citizens. It should be noted that according to the researches, 36 percent of Ukrainians have never traveled outside own regions, while 77 percent of citizens have never been abroad.
Unfortunately, poverty is the most powerful factor of isolation of Ukrainians. However, there are the other ones: I still remember the interview of the president of Ukraine International Airlines, in which he shocked the readers with the phrases like “air travel is a positional good, not a cheap electric train.” As the result, there are less low-cost carriers in Ukraine, as well as the directions. There are few cities, which can be reached directly from Kharkiv by plane, while the prices on the tickets are much higher than the average monthly salaries of the residents of Kharkiv.
I think that the visa-free regime is only the first step towards our purpose – successful Ukraine, where the economic opportunities and civil rights of citizens will be at the level of the leading European countries. The first step to make Europe open and accessible for Ukrainians, but there is still a long way ahead.
I would like to believe that June is really a final date for the cancellation of short-term visas, while the informational resonance of the topic will urge doubtful Ukrainians to travel abroad. It is expensive but it is very good, including for saying goodbye to the unnecessary illusions about the mythical abstract ‘Europe’ and for loving own country even more.
