Ukrainian Member of the Rada, Vadim Rabinovich wrote the following on his Facebook:
China’s reply to Ukraine’s stance on the “Motor Sich”.
The Chinese have long maintained their neutrality on the issue of Crimea. However, they have suddenly “changed their mind” and have dispatched there a representative committee headed by the members of the Beijing Export-Import Commission to “establish partnership”. The Chinese businessmen have, together with local authorities, agreed to establish contacts with local companies, they have presented an action plan in the area of tourism and health tours for Chinese citizens. They are also ready to invest in the hotel industry.
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RIA Novosti reports the Crimean Minister of Economic Development confirmed a visit of Chinese businessmen took place.
Motor Sich is a Ukrainian factory that makes engines for airplanes. A large share in the company was recently sold by its private owners to Chinese investors. The Ukrainian government, likely under pressure from America, sanctioned the Chinese investors, and said this is a matter of national security.
It begs a question, whose national security? Ukraine’s or America’s? The governments of the East European countries seem to have made American economic and security issues their own. A perfect colonial relationship.
American Conservative alerted me to a curious identity shift among young American women…
According to private polling shared with Intelligencer by Democratic data scientist David Shor, roughly 30 percent of American women under 25 identify as LGBT; for women over 60, that figure is less than 5 percent.
What is the “Bezviz”? It is the ability of Ukrainians to travel to the EU without a visa, and a source of pride for the current president, and one of the greatest of peremohas (victories) for Svidomites (nationally conscious Ukrainians)…
In my opinion, the Bezviz, which came into being in 2017, was never much of an achievement. It should be mentioned, that this was something the government of Yanukovych was already working on. Where once you needed a visa, a stamp in the passport, you now need these documents:
A biometric passport
Insurance covering the entire time of your stay
Destination or itinerary
In case you are not travelling by car, you will need return tickets
If you are going for a business meeting, you need an invitation from the company
If you are going to study, you need invitation from the school
Hotel reservation, or invitation from friends with whom you are staying
20-50 Euros per day in the least, and proof of having this kind of money
If you are going to work in Poland, you will need an invitation from the employer, and 200-300 zloty.
Failure to provide any of these documents could result in rejection of entry. I still remember, in 1991 my parents used just Czechoslovak passports to travel with us to France. But 1991 was a different era I guess, Bezviz back then was not Bezviz now.
Anyway, the other day Stop Fake, a project of the Faculty of Journalism of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, whose mission is to fight Russian disinformation, reported how the Russian media said the Bezviz will become more complicated.
Ukraine, Entry into Europe will Become Harder; A Special Permission will be Needed by Everyone.
…
Bezviz for Ukrainians will Become Harder, now they will need a Special Permission
The talk is about a new security system called ETIAS, which will start working in 2021, and will require an online registration and a fee of €7,-. Stop Fake came to the conclusion that this isn’t a complication, and that the Russian media are lying. But when one turns to CNN, as this new regulation will be obligatory not just for Ukrainians but for Americans as well, they are outright calling this new demand a “visa”. And it seems the EU does as well.
I quote:
The European Union announced on Friday that American travelers will need a new type of visa — a European Travel Information and Authorization System or ETIAS — to visit the European Schengen Area.
And I have to ask, if this is a visa, is calling the regime Ukraine has with the EU a “Bezviz” still objective beyond 2021?
The requirement to apply for a visa is said to be a retaliatory measure since the US still require some EU countries to apply for a visa.
The US had been in a disagreement with the European Parliament and European Commission, CNN reports, over visa requirements it has for citizens from five EU member nations: Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania and Cyprus.
The European Commission called for the US to reciprocate visa-free status to those five countries as it does for the other 23 EU nations part of the Schengen Area, the EU’s visa-free travel zone, in a 2016 report.
