Crimean authorities discourage residents from obtaining Ukrainian biometric passports by threatening them with arrest on the mainland of Ukraine
The Deputy Prime Minister of the annexed Crimea, Georgy Muradov says that residents of the peninsula who wish to receive a Ukrainian biometric passport for traveling abroad can face arrests on the mainland of Ukraine.
"I want to warn all people that this is not just an outright provocation, but also a great danger. Half will be arrested and then people will cry and say ‘What have I done?’ We should not succumb to these provocations," Muradov said on "Sputnik in the Crimea" radio, RIA Novosti Crimea reports.
The Russian Deputy Prime Minister of the Crimea also believes that the decision of the Crimeans to travel to mainland Ukraine to receive biometric passports will mean the betrayal of "choice" made during the "referendum" on March 16, 2014.
To use the visa-free regime with the EU from June 11, Ukrainians need to have a biometric passport and, if asked by border guards, to prove the purpose and conditions of the trip and their solvency among other things.
On June 11, visa liberalization for Ukrainians came into effect for short trips to the EU and Schengen countries, allowing up to 90 days for every 180 days without the right to work. The visa-free regime applies to all member states of the European Union, except for Great Britain and Ireland, and the countries of the Schengen Area outside the EU. This regime does not yet apply to the so-called "overseas territories" of the Netherlands and France.