The victory of supporters of the UK's exit from the European Union (Brexit) at the Thursday referendum and other internal problems of the European Union may negatively impact the granting by the EU of a visa-free regime to citizens of Ukraine, Iryna Gerashchenko, first deputy speaker of Ukraine's parliament, said.
“The consequences of the British referendum will have negative prospects for Ukraine, too. The EU has a hard time dealing with the migration crisis. Europe has been covered by a tsunami of Euro-skepticism, support for radical and populist parties is increasing there. Can it delay the visa-free regime? Yes, unfortunately. The EU will now blow on water,” Gerashchenko said on Facebook on June 24 morning.
Gerashchenko said serious internal problems are ‘killing” the ratings of all current EU leaders, making one focus on the situation inside the EU while ignoring everything that goes on outside it.
At the same time, she said that it is not a reason for Ukraine to give up, no matter how difficult the consequences of the British referendum will be for the EU.
“Such is our Ukrainian way, like Ukrainian roads, with pits and potholes, but without curbs and always westward. Therefore, we move on. We demand that the EU fulfill its obligation on the visa-free regime, we expect the prolongation of the sanctions against Russia, we are fighting for our Euro-Atlantic perspective. Because there is just no other vector for Ukraine,” Gerashchenko said.
The UK has voted to leave the European Union at a referendum: 51.9 percent of British voters voted for the country to leave the EU, the voter turnout being over 72 percent.
Over 33.5 million people took part in the referendum.
