To Europe via Poland

On Tuesday, the Head of the Transcarpathian Regional Council Ivan Baloha met with the Consul General of Poland in Lviv Jaroslaw Drozd. During the meeting, they discussed the establishment of contacts between local communities, preparation and opening of the visa center in Uzhgorod. 

Mr. Consul said that the visa center in Uzhgorod will start working in August 27. In general, they plan to open 17 such centers in the country.  The cost of the services in the visa center will be 18 euros. In general, as noted by Jaroslaw Drozd, last year, 8,000 Transcarpathians received Polish Schengen visas, 100 countrymen received permits for local border traffic.

"The new center should bring Transcarpathians closer to Europe. We are interested in enhancing of cross-border cooperation. On the 124 kilometers border stretch we have no common crossing points. This situation must be changed. To do this, we need to work on the opening of the crossing point "Lubnya-Volosate." This will give a powerful impetus to the development of the tourism industry", – Mr. Consul said.

Ivan Baloha noted the initiative of Polish partners on the visa center opening and activation of the works on the checkpoint opening. "These actions evidence that Europe supports the European integration processes in our society. The opening of the new center will also contribute to the progress in this process. I am sure that this will lead to the development of Ukrainian-Polish relations", – the head of the regional council said.