Closure of the Ukrainian visa section shows relations between Prague and Kiev are still strained since mutual expulsion of diplomats
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday that the visa section of the Czech consulate in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk will close on July 1 for an indefinite period. The stated reason for the closure is that Ukrainian authorities have still not accepted the credentials of the newly appointed Czech Consul to Donetsk, which the foreign ministry submitted to the Ukrainian authorities on February 23.
The ministry said that without a General Consul the consulate in Donetsk cannot function and added that a further 11 Czech diplomatic staff in Ukraine, seven of whom are responsible for receiving and processing visa applications, have been waiting for weeks or even months to receive new residency papers confirming their permission to live and work there.
“Employees of the Ukrainian Embassy in Prague and the Ukrainian General Consulate in Brno were issued with Czech identification documents within a matter of a few days without delay,” the ministry said in the statement issued on Thursday.
The ministry said it had repeatedly appealed to the Ukrainian authorities to issue its staff with the necessary papers and warned of delays in the issuing of Czech Schengen visas for Ukrainian citizens should it fail to do so. According to the press release, the MFA last appealed officially to the Ukrainian authorities on June 21. Relations between Prague and Kiev deteriorated in January when the Czech Republic granted political asylum to Bohdan Danylyshyn.
Source: http://m.ceskapozice.cz/en/news
