Visa requirements could be reviewed on humanitarian grounds

Czech interior minister Milan Chovanec said that civil war had started in Ukraine with the government likely to use the army to win back control of the country. Chovanec said before the regular weekly Cabinet meeting that the Czech Republic intends for now to maintain the visa obligation for Ukrainians visiting the country. If the situation in Ukraine worsened, the need for visas would be examined again on humanitarian grounds so that refugees could be taken in, the minister said.

Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek said that those responsible for the violence in Ukraine should not be allowed entry into the European Union. A list of barred individuals should be drawn up in Brussels with their accounts frozen in European banks as well, he said. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said the sanctions could hit the Ukrainian president.