BRUSSELS, July 24 - The European Union and Ukraine on Monday signed an agreement that makes it easier for some groups of people to obtain visas for traveling to the EU, Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryshchenko said.

The agreement is a step forward for Ukraine’s quest for better relations with the rest of Europe and may strengthen the country’s civic society as Ukraine has been seeking to negotiate a visa-free travel deal with the EU.

“This is good news,” Hryshchenko wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday. “This way, step by step, the visa barrier is being destroyed.”

“This agreement will be an important step towards our key goal of introducing visa-free regime for the citizens of Ukraine within the EU,” Hryshchenko wrote.

But opposition figures said the agreement, although being a step in the right direction, actually does nothing to speed up a visa-free travel deal.

Volodymyr Ohryzko, a former foreign minister and a member of an opposition group, said the agreement will help some categories of people to obtain visas, but the authorities have to focus on the visa-free travel deal.

“The agreement makes it better for some categories of the Ukrainian society, but it does nothing much at speeding up the visa-free deal,” Ohryzko told Ukraynski Novyny news agency. “These are different things.”

“The most important thing is to sign the visa-free deal,” Ohryzko said. “That’s why it is important for Ukraine to implement all EU requirements.”

The agreement extends the list of categories of people falling under the simplified procedure for obtaining visas while travelling to the EU member states.

For example, in addition to journalists the list now also includes members of their teams, such as cameramen and sound engineers. Also, from now on, the journalists may present the proof of employment letters from their respective employers instead of the invitations from the host party.

The simplified visa obtaining procedure now is also available to the four new categories: members of civil society organizations, participants in international forums (seminars, exhibitions, etc.), representatives of religious communities, as well as participants of the cross-border cooperation programs within the EU programs.

In addition, the amendment covered citizens who visit their relatives - citizens of Ukraine currently residing in the EU, as well as relatives who are the EU citizens. The list also includes the accompanying persons of those who are in need of medical treatment.

In 2011 alone Ukrainian citizens received 1.1 million of Schengen visas for travel to the EU. The number of multiple entry visas compared to single entry visas for Ukrainian citizens increased to 35.5% (in 2010 - 27.3%) and every third visa has been issued free of charge.

The visa liberalisation dialogue was initialed in 2006. The two-stage Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP) for Ukraine toward the establishment of a visa-free regime for short-stay travel was adopted in late 2010. VLAP outlines four blocks of issues: document security, including biometrics; irregular immigration, including readmission; public order and security; and external relations and fundamental rights.

Currently, Ukraine is at stage one of the Action Plan and the next step is for Ukrainian Parliament to approve the introduction of biometric passports for traveling abroad. (tl/ez)