Ukraine parliament approves several bills for EU visa-free travel

Ukraine’s parliament, the Rada, approved on Nov. 10 several legislative items necessary for achieving a visa-free regime with the EU. The approved bills include changes to the special confiscation procedures of the property of corrupt officials; as well as permission to arrest, confiscate or return property that was obtained illegally, could be used, or could serve as evidence of a crime.

Legislators also approved a bill to amend the criminal procedural code that further specifies the designation of law enforcement bodies that conduct pre-trial investigations. Rada approved the creation of a state agency to return and manage assets that were obtained illegally. It also approved changes to require administrative judges to immediately review cases on the removal or detention of foreigners.

The parliament’s changes occurred to legislation that had been drafted by the Cabinet of Ministers and have yet to be reviewed by EU officials. “As what typically happens, we await the text of these documents with all the amendments in order to analyze and determine their conformity with EU legislation,” the EU Representative to Ukraine stated on its Facebook page. EU Representative Jan Tombinski said he supported the Cabinet’s draft, which met the EU’s minimum standards, as reported by the eurointegration.com.ua news site, which also reported that those standards were significantly lowered by the parliament in its approved drafts.

Zenon Zawada: It’s possible these amended bills won’t meet EU standards, which would be the latest disappointment. In his statement, Tombinski recognized that even the Cabinet’s drafts are aimed at “meeting the most urgent requirements as quickly as possible.” Nonetheless, we expect the necessary legislation for visa-free travel to the EU will be approved in the coming weeks.