Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii says an agreement on a common aviation area between Ukraine and the European Union, or the EU-Ukraine Open Skies Agreement, will be signed as early as in the second half of June.
He made the comment at a meeting with envoy of the Cabinet of Ministers to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, Vasyl Mokan on March 16.
Read alsoUkraine, Iceland agree on open skies temporary deal"The European Commission informed me last week that in the second half of April, they will sent everything [the required documents] to the Council of Europe for their approval and further bureaucratic procedures. We expect it [the agreement] will be signed as early as in the second half of June," the minister said.
According to Kryklii, the signing of the agreement will facilitate obtaining permission for domestic air carriers to work with European airports without the need to undergo a number of bureaucratic procedures.
Background
- The European Parliament supported the plans to sign an agreement on a common aviation area between Ukraine and the EU as soon as possible.
- Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Ambassador Matti Maasikas says Ukraine and the European Union will sign the agreement in the near future.
- For several years, Kyiv has been negotiating with the European Union on a common aviation space that would allow Ukrainian and European airlines operating freely in the European Union and Ukraine. At the same time, signing the agreement is impossible without resolving the dispute between Great Britain and Spain regarding Gibraltar, while Ukraine is not entitled to independently take any unilateral decisions in this regard.
- On January 31, 2020, Great Britain withdrew from the European Union, which paved the way for talks on the EU-Ukraine Open Skies Agreement.