Mary Akopian: An important task today is to protect the rights and freedoms of our citizens in the territory of foreign countries
During the VI meeting of the Working Group on the Protection of Rights and Freedoms of Ukrainian citizens who are temporarily displaced in EU countries, Deputy Minister of the Interior Mary Akopian stressed the need to ensure the safety and rights of children. She urged to focus on closer interaction of the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the law enforcement agencies of the European countries where the largest number of Ukrainian refugees are. The
meeting of the working group took place online and was dedicated to preparing for the new academic year. “I am grateful to the European partners who are making every effort to to provide an opportunity for Ukrainian children to adapt to a new team, overcome the language barrier, gain knowledge and develop,
” the Deputy Minister noted.
Mary Akopian also stressed that the common and main task today is not to lose contact with our citizens, to protect their rights and freedoms in the territory of foreign countries, in particular to provide unhindered access to services and administrative services abroad. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has already worked out the possibility of obtaining several services abroad.
Today, Ukrainians who were forced to flee from the war to the EU can already issue:
- passport of a citizen of Ukraine,
- passport of a citizen of Ukraine for traveling abroad, as well as use the service of registration - both documents at the same time.
Such services are available in the Republic of Poland. At the same time, the possibility of similar work of SE “Dokument” is agreed in at least 7 EU countries.
In addition, opportunities for Ukrainian drivers have been expanded. It is possible to use a Ukrainian driver's license in the EU:
- without the need to exchange it during the entire period of protection, and not only for 6 months;
- in case of expiration of its validity, which is relevant for certificates issued for the first time with a validity of 2 years;
- old model, which is issued only in Cyrillic and has no validity, without the need to have an additional certified translation or international driver's license.
The new rules also provide for obtaining a temporary EU-model driver's license in case of loss or theft of a Ukrainian driver's license without passing exams.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
