Ukraine: Eine Burg der Regeln

In Transitions Online stellt ein prominenter ukrainischer Verfasser Überlegungen dazu an, ob es möglich wäre, die Pathologien des Visumsystems des Schengen-Raums der EU zu heilen.

It was a great surprise for many Ukrainians to learn from the media of the “simplified” visa regime supposedly introduced for them by the German government in 1999-2001. So far, I have failed to find a single person in Ukraine who actually benefited from the “softness” and “simplicity” of that regime. Perhaps I should broaden my social milieu and look for the beneficiaries among local gangsters and prostitutes who were supposedly pumped en masse through that legal loophole to Germany. Alas, I mostly know writers, journalists, scholars, students, professionals, and suchlike who never knew of Joschka Fischer’s visa generosity. On the contrary, a good dozen of them were denied a visa exactly during that golden time when Ukrainian prostitutes supposedly wended their glorious way through the German consulate to Frankfurt, Berlin, and other sites of deeper European integration.

In July 2000, Yuriy B., a prominent Ukrainian writer and journalist, the editor of a reputable cultural magazine, Krytyka, was set to take part in the international project called Literaturexpress: a millennium train journey by a hundred writers from all European countries via the historical trans-European Lisbon–St. Petersburg route – with many stops, literary meetings, readings, and discussions.

He submitted all the required documents to the consulate, paid the fee, booked the ticket (non-refundable, non-exchangeable) and patiently began to wait. He had already been many times to Germany and other Schengen states, held a multi-entry American visa valid for five years and a silver “Miles & More” frequent-flyer card with 100,000 earned miles, a Google search on his name turned up a few thousand hits (if anybody bothered to check) – so he had little to worry about. And yet the visa endorsement was held up for unspecified reasons and ultimately, on Friday, just 16 hours before departure, was denied. No explanations, as usual, were given. No complaints, as usual, were accepted.

“My friends,” Yuriy says, “tried to entertain me with black humor. ‘Maybe somebody with your name stole a car in Germany?’ they joked. ‘Or maybe you’re a KGB agent? Or maybe you declined to pay for the hotel last time?’ – ‘No’, I replied gloomily, ‘I just declined to pay the Berlin prostitutes.’

The story, however, ended almost happily. On Monday, the consul herself called him, apologized, and invited him to pick up his visa. He bought a new ticket (another $500) and joined the team of literati next day in Madrid. But he still seems far from satisfied. “It’s not only a matter of 500 bucks – my monthly income,” he says, “and not only of Lisbon missed. I still feel my humiliating helplessness vis-à-vis that bureaucratic Moloch. If they can do this to me – with all my international fame, contacts, protection – just imagine what can they do to an average person!“

To read the article in full, visit the Transitions Online website.