The UAE and the European Union (EU) have signed a reciprocal bilateral short-stay visa waiver agreement exempting the UAE citizens from Schengen visa.

The agreement makes the UAE the first Arab country to receive such a visa waiver for its nationals, a Wam report said.

Citizens of the UAE who hold diplomatic, special, service and ordinary passports will be able to travel without a visa to 34 EU countries which make up the Schengen area for stays of up to 90 days.

The UAE Ambassador to the EU, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and Belgium, Sulaiman Hamid Al Mazroui, and the permanent representative of Latvia to the EU, Ilze Juhansone, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, signed the agreement in Brussels.