March 6, the Polish parliament authorized Pres Lech Kaczynski to ratify an agreement between Poland and Ukraine on cross-border travel. Thanks to the agreement, residents of the border zone will be able to travel to Poland without visas – on special permits.

The agreement was endorsed by Polish lawmakers, with all the present 417 deputies backing it.

The agreement on the cross-border travel was signed in March 2008 by premiers Donald Tusk and Yulia Tymoshenko. However, following the recommendations of the EU commission, the original 50-km border zone was reduced to 30 km. Some Ukrainian towns outside the 30-km zone will be included in the agreement.