Ukraine’s Passport Now More Powerful Than Russia’s

Ukraine’s passport is now more powerful than Russia’s due to a historic decision by the EU to grant citizens of Ukraine visa-free access to the bloc.

The EU has granted visa-free travel to Ukrainians effective June 11, 2017, bringing the country one-step closer to participation in the EU family. Ukrainians with e-passports will be able to travel to most of the EU’s member states as well as four Schengen countries for a period of 90 days for business and tourism purposes.

The plan for the visa waiver was pre-approved on April 6, 2017, and the EU Parliament held the final vote on April 26. The signing ceremony for the deal took place in Strasbourg, France, on May 17.

President Petro Poroshenko hailed the deal as historic for Ukraine, stating, “Ukraine returns to the European family. Ukraine says a final farewell to the Soviet and Russian Empire.”

Following is the list of countries to which citizens of Ukraine can now travel:

The UK and Ireland are not included in the deal.

With this increase in global mobility, the Ukrainian passport’s visa-free score increases to 119 from 85, a significant jump that overtakes Russia’s score of 106. Its ranking in the Global Passport Power Rank 2017 also increases from 48th place to 30th.*

*The Passport Index is a real-time index of visa-free scores and passport rankings. Scores and rankings are subject to change as new visa agreements come into effect.

Source: European Parliament