2024-09-11 15:23:29
EU Ambassador Charles-Michel Geurts said there are no conditions for Ecuador to be exempt from a Schengen visa.
The reasons why Ecuador cannot access the Schengen visa exemption have their origin in the country itself and in the conditions of the European Union.
In 2009, the Government of Rafael Correa chose to negotiate an individual trade agreement with the European Union, without the two neighboring countries: Colombia and Peru.
In 2015, Colombia and Peru, which signed the multi-party agreement, received the Schengen visa exemption.
When the EU ambassador to Ecuador, Charles-Michel Geurts, arrived in the country in 2020, he said that one of his objectives was to achieve this benefit for Ecuadorians. Four years later, and before concluding his mission, the diplomat says that there is a high percentage of visas rejected by European embassies in Ecuador.
He also acknowledged that this exemption is currently complicated due to the pressure of Ukrainian migrants and refugees that the EU is facing. The diplomat recalled that there was “a great window of opportunity at the end of 2022.”
That year, the European Parliament was days away from voting on a motion to waive short-stay visas. This motion would benefit citizens of Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Ecuador. However, the process was thwarted by a complaint against Qatar in the European body.
The head of the EU diplomatic delegation in Ecuador told EFE that: “At the same time, Europe is under a new wave of immigration through the Mediterranean Sea, with countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain on the front line, and is hosting five million Ukrainian refugees.”
By: EL COMERCIO