BRUSSELS, April 26. /TASS/. Ambassadors of the 28 member states of the European Union have approved the visa waiver for Ukraine, a source in the Council of the European Union told TASS on Wednesday.

"Ambassadors of the EU member states have approved the decision to grant visa-free travel to Ukraine," the source said.

According to him, the Council of the European Union is expected to approve this decision on May 11. Then it will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and take effect 20 days after that.

Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has already said that Wednesday’s decision is a historical one.

Visa waiver

On December 18, 2015, the European Commission said that the European Union should grant visa-free travel to citizens of Ukraine, Georgia and Kosovo. However, it was announced that the implementation of visa-free travel could only take place once the bloc beefed up its mechanism to suspend visa-free agreements.

The plan stipulates visa-free travel for 90 days in any 180-day period, however, it does not envisage that visitors will have the right to work or study in the European Union.

On February 28, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament came to terms on an agreement on easing visa restrictions for the Ukrainian citizens.

Meanwhile, the European Union plans to set up a preliminary electronic registration system for countries that have been granted visa-free travel. Before travelling to the EU, citizens of these countries will have to register paying a fee of about five euros. At the same time, border officers in the EU countries will have the right to check if they have enough money on them to be travelling to the EU, as well as a medical insurance, return tickets and papers to prove their accommodation booking.