KIEV, June 11 - Ukrainians are celebrating the first day of visa-free travel to most EU countries, which President Petro Poroshenko welcomed as a "a final exit of our country from the Russian Empire," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

The liberalized regime entered into force on June 11, allowing Ukrainian citizens who have biometric passports to enter all EU member states other than Ireland and the United Kingdom without a visa for up to 90 days during any 180-day period. It also applies to four Schengen Area countries that are not in the EU: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

Poroshenko met with Slovak his counterpart, Andrej Kiska, on the Slovak-Ukrainian border, opening a symbolic "door to the EU."

"We have waited so long for this," Poroshenko said at the Uzhhorod border crossing in the TransCarpathian region. "I am sure that this day, June 11, will go down in the history of Ukraine as a final exit of our country from the Russian empire and its return to the family of European nations.

"Welcome to Europe," Kiska told the crowd attending the event. "I want to call on you to continue carrying out reforms."

"The visa-free regime for Ukraine has started! Glory to Europe! Glory to Ukraine!" Poroshenko earlier wrote on Twitter after hundreds of Ukrainians crossed the EU border.

"Flights to Warsaw, Budapest, Frankfurt, and Munich have successfully landed and passed passport control;) #Bezviz -- just the beginning!" Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin cheered on Twitter.

Thousands of people had crossed the border into EU countries by midday, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's consular department wrote on Twitter.

Ukrainian travelers arriving in Brussels on June 11 said they were pleased about the ease with which they could now travel to Europe and the greater integration with the EU that it represented.

"It feels very good when you can travel without any restrictions, when you just need to have a passport and that's all. That feels very good," Ukrainian student Inna Teryokhina told RFE/RL at Brussels Airport.

Ukrainian border officials said they are expecting a 30 percent rise in passenger traffic at control sites along the frontier with the new regulations.

"Today, we bring down a barrier between the people of Ukraine and the people of the European Union," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a video address released late on June 10.

"It will create new opportunities for all of us, strengthening our economies, or security, and our friendship," she said. "And this is what our partnership is all about: making a difference to our citizens’ everyday life."

Poroshenko's predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, was pushed from power in 2014 by massive pro-European protests after he scrapped plans for a deal to tighten ties with the EU. Russia then seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region and fomented separatism in eastern Ukraine, where a war between Russia-backed forces and the government has killed 10,000 people.

Much of present-day Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire beginning in the 17th century, and Ukraine was under Moscow's thumb as a Soviet republic for most of the 20th century. It gained independence in the Soviet collapse of 1991. (rfr/rl/ez)