EU visa reports for Ukraine, Georgia postponed

The publication of EU visa liberalization reports for Ukraine and Georgia has been postponed for the period after the European Council's summit scheduled for December 17-18.

The online publication cited one of the European journalists who shared the news.

"Publication of visa lib reports for Ukraine and Georgia delayed till after [the] EUCO summit," Brussels reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Rikard Jozwiak wrote on Twitter on Monday, December 14.

https://twitter.com/RikardJozwiak/status/676361546516271104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

ter, eurointegration.com.ua published its analysis of what was behind the postponement of the reports, claiming that it was the inconsistency of amendments to the law on a national asset recovery office with the European Commission's requirements.

It has turned out that the Law on the National Agency for Recovery and Management of Stolen Assets was signed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on December 9 without expert conclusions from the European Commission, eurointegration.com.ua wrote in its article titled "Two Steps From The Visa-Free Regime: Why The European Commission Cancelled The Visa Liberalization Report," published on Tuesday, December 15.

"Late last week, the Presidential Administration received a clear signal from Brussels that the current wording of the Law on the National Agency would not let Ukraine get positive conclusions from the European Commission," the article said.

This law, namely amendments introduced for the second reading, "became a key obstacle to the report where the EC would have acknowledged the complete fulfilment by Ukraine of the Action Plan on Visa Liberalization.

The publication of the reports was originally scheduled for December 15.