Nevertheless, as previously stated by Director of the Information Policy Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleg Voloshin, despite the agreement of January 1, 2008, under which a visa facilitation agreement is in effect for Ukrainian citizens, Canada is not taking any steps in this direction. Voloshin emphasized that this situation calls into question the effectiveness of relations with Canada in the visa sphere.
“We very much hope that for Canada this statement will be a serious signal that we are canceling visas not for those countries that we love very much, but for those where Ukrainians often travel, and in return we expect to receive corresponding liberalization towards our citizens. We perceive the visa dialogue with any country as a two-way street, and no one will give anyone any gifts for nothing anymore,” Voloshin said.
The diplomat drew attention to the fact that 4% of Canada's population are ethnic Ukrainians, and many of them are emigrants in the last generation, that is, they have close relatives in Ukraine. Canada has simplified the visa regime for Barbados, Botswana, Brunei, Namibia, Swaziland.
But there are still improvements in the visa issue - during 2013 two new centers for obtaining visas to Canada will be opened in Kyiv and Lviv, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
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