EU says Ukraine, Georgia meet benchmarks to get visa free travel

The commission announced on December 18 that it will now be up to the EU member states and the European Parliament to decide whether to actually grant visa-free travel for the two countries next year. However sources in Brussels say that, while the European Parliament will vote in favour of visa-free travel for the two countries, it might prove difficult among some member states to approve the measure, especially regarding Ukraine. Some big member states, notably Germany, are believed to be fearful that visa liberalization will increase migratory flows into the EU, Radio Liberty says. The commission's reports regarding Ukraine and Georgia meeting the benchmarks were initially supposed to come out on 15 December. However, Brussels chose to wait until a meeting held on December 16 in Brussels between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, EU Council President Donald Tusk, and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to iron out the last remaining differences.