The Consular Service of the French Embassy in Ukraine has fully mobilized its efforts for consideration of visa applications for those who wish to visit the Euro 2016 European Football Championship, First Secretary of the Embassy of France in Ukraine Julie Fort has said.
The press service of the French Embassy in Ukraine said that the special attention is being paid to the applications of the Bobenchyko family.
“In the form in which it [the package of documents] was presented originally, their file had several gaps, which did not allow giving a positive answer for issuing [the visas]. The Embassy of France last week contacted the family to explain clearly what the problem with the documents was and which elements needed to be corrected. This morning these elements were finally handed over to the consular section, which allows us to issue the visas. I want to wish the little Volodymyr to enjoy the Euro 2016, and that this event should strengthened his passion for football. Ukrainians are welcome in France, whether it be at the Euro 2016 or as tourists who want to visit our country in any other case,” the press service quoted Fort as saying.
As reported, on June 3, 2016, the first vice speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group, Iryna Gerashchenko asked French Ambassador to Ukraine Isabelle Dumont to find out the reasons for a visa refusal to a 8-year-old Ukrainian football fan Volodymyr Bobenchyko who regularly attends matches of his team and the national team of Ukraine and had planned to attend Euro 2016. The Embassy of France in Ukraine refused to issue visas to him and his family explaining this with the note “the aim of the trip to France has not been proven,” although the family has provided to the embassy the confirmation of bookings of the plane tickets and hotels as well as the tickets for the Euro 2016 matches.
On Monday, June 6, a few dozen people held a rally outside the French Embassy in Ukraine to protest against the delay in the issuance of visas to football fans who are going to support the Ukrainian national team at Euro 2016.
On June 7, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko addressed his French counterpart with a request for assistance in the issuance of visas to Ukrainian fans who plan to go to France to attend Euro 2016.
