WSJ: EU countries put off decision on visa-free travel for Ukraine to September at the earliest

"EU officials and diplomats now say that September appears to be the earliest date that EU governments and the European Parliament could sign off the agreements," The WSJ wrote referring to European sources. The deal would give millions of citizens from these countries who hold biometric passports visa-free access to the border-free Schengen zone covering most EU nations. The UK and Ireland are outside Schengen. "The issues range from German concerns about organized crime by Georgian gangs to worries in France that the visa deals could create new security vulnerabilities at a time of heightened terror fears," reads the article. On Wednesday, Berlin asked the commission to report on Georgian crime gangs across the bloc, according to people familiar with the discussions. Other countries have also slowed down approval. Italy and France have said a decision should await the approval of new rules which will make it easier to suspend visa-free regimes in case of abuse. The European Parliament is only expected to formally back the changes in September. "Diplomats say there are some EU governments who want to hold up any decisions on Georgia, Ukraine and Kosovo until they consider Turkey’s visa-free application," The WSJ wrote.