In the past twenty years Ukraine’s population decreased. Emigration has
only contributed to the negative population dynamics and also resulted
in the ‘brain drain’, where many specialists whose skills are in global
demand have left Ukraine. Nevertheless, the post-Soviet Ukraine has had
some positive developments in the migration sphere. The government was
able to address several challenges, including creating migration
legislation from scratch, establishing the State Border Guard Service as
well as working with the EU in negotiating, adopting and implementing
the Readmission Agreement. One of the key issues on the EU-Ukraine
agenda concerning migration is an agreement that would allow Ukrainians
to travel for short-term visits to Europe without visas. Researchers do
not expect that such visa-free travel would lead to a substantial
increase in illegal migration. To the contrary, it is expected that a
visa-free regime will stimulate greater tourism and business links
between Ukraine and EU Member States.
The new MPC Policy Brief: Ukraine’s key migration challenges and opportunities by the CARIM-East team
