Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gerashchenko and Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus in Ukraine Evagoras Vryonides made a joint statement for the media on the occasion of introduction by the Republic of Cyprus of a system of electronic application for visas for Ukrainian citizens starting from September 10.
In his statement, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomed this friendly step of Cyprus, noting that the Republic of Cyprus has become the first member country of the EU to provide our citizens with an opportunity to obtain electronic visas, the registration of which will be completely free.
According to the Minister, the Ukrainian side considers this decision as a stage of introducing a fully visa-free entry to the EU Member States for Ukrainian citizens. "This decision is symbolic also in view of the current presidency of Cyprus in the EU," said Kostyantyn Gryshchenko.
Minister Gryshchenko expressed hope that other EU member-states would also introduce a simplified procedure of issuing visas for Ukrainians, including through the introduction of electronic visas.
The issue of free travel of Ukrainian citizens in the world is a priority of the Ministry, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko said. According to him, as of today, Ukrainian citizens already have the opportunity to travel by electronic visas to Mexico and Australia. In addition, in 2010-2012, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine signed 19 agreements facilitating visa obtaining procedures or introducing visa-free travel for Ukrainians.
The Minister also praised the fact that the Ukrainian-Cypriot relations are developing steadily. He said that the Ukrainian side hopes for Cyprus’s active position during its EU presidency in the area of developing Ukraine-EU cooperation and promoting Ukraine’s European integration prospects.
For his part, the Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus in Ukraine stressed that the decision to simplify visa regulations for Ukrainian was based on mutual trust that had long existed between Ukraine and the Republic of Cyprus. According Evagoras Vryonides, Ukrainian-Cypriot cooperation is developing actively and successfully, which is illustrated by the first ever official visit of the President of the Republic of Cyprus Christofias Demetris to Ukraine in 2011 and the opening of the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Ukraine in its framework, even despite the fact that other states were closing their diplomatic missions abroad due to economic difficulties.
Note: On September 10, 2012 Cyprus introduces a system of electronic application for visas for Ukrainian citizens. The system will allow Ukrainians to submit visa applications for a single-entry 90-days visa to Cyprus electronically, without visiting the Embassy of Cyprus in Ukraine or providing any documents (passport, invitations, certificates, photographs, etc.).