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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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The Eastern Partnership Visa Liberalization Index has recently been updated to cover the period of May to July 2014The Eastern Partnership Visa Liberalization Index has recently been updated to cover the period of May to July 2014. Key developments during this period include Moldova’s accession to the visa-free regime on 28 April 2014 after its successful fulfilment of the EaP’s criteria for visa liberalization. Furthermore, the introduction of a visa-free regime in Ukraine and Georgia is forthcoming, possibly in 2015, if reforms continue at the same pace. Despite political repression in the sphere of civil society, the report notes that Azerbaijan has made efforts to facilitate visa-free travel, including its implementation of Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements (VF&RA). The report emphasizes that recent political developments in the Eastern Neighbourhood, including the war in Ukraine’s eastern regions as well as growing tensions between Armenia and Ukraine on Nagorno-Karabakh have an important bearing on the pace of visa liberalization. The index serves as a tool to track the progress of the Eastern Partnership countries in meeting the four criteria required for visa liberalization, including document security, migration issues, public order, external relations and Human Rights . The data is compiled and published on a quarterly basis by the Visa-Free Europe Coalition. |
Project funded by the European Union
