WARSAW, March 4, 2008 (AFP) - Poland and Ukraine on Tuesday initialled a deal easing border transit requirements made more restrictive by Poland's December entry into the Schengen free-travel zone.

'In reality I think the first beneficiaries of the new rules may be able to cross the border this summer,' Poland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski said Tuesday in Warsaw at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Ogryzko.

The two ministers had earlier initialled the deal allowing Ukrainians living within 50 kilometers (31 miles) of Poland's eastern Schengen-zone frontier visa-free transit into Poland.

A special card with an electronic identity chip will allow them to stay in EU and Schengen member Poland for up to 60 days, so long as they have health insurance.

Poland's eastern frontier with Ukraine is the busiest EU and Schengen external border, according to Sikorski.

The deal will affect around 1.5 million Ukrainians living in border areas with Poland. It is a reciprocal agreement, but as EU citizens Poles already enjoy visa-free travel to Ukraine, an EU hopeful.

The accord must be approved by the EU prior to its final endorsement by both countries.

Sikorski and Ogryzko said they would also ask the EU to approve joint Polish-Ukrainian border patrols and the construction of six to eight new border crossing points ahead of UEFA's Euro 2012 football finals, which both countries will host.

There are currently just 12 crossing points on the 535-kilometer long Polish-Ukrainian frontier.

After joining the Schengen zone December 21 with nine other European Union members, Poland toughened its visa requirements for Ukrainians who had previously obtained the documents easily and free of charge.

The change has particularly hurt Ukrainians in the west of the country, who did business and looked for jobs in Poland.

A former Soviet republic which gained independence as the USSR crumbled in 1991, EU and NATO hopeful Ukraine has abolished its visa regime for EU citizens and some other Western nations.