The 2-day meeting of EU foreign ministers ended in Prague. During the conference, the issue of stopping the admission of Russian citizens to the territory of Europe was discussed. Several representatives of different countries earlier called for the abolition of tourist visas for citizens of the aggressor country. But the ministers could not agree on a ban on the issuance of visas. For example, Germany and France were categorically opposed to this proposal. But a compromise was found.
The European Union will suspend the agreement with Russia from 2007. This agreement allowed Russians to obtain visas under a simplified program. The abolition of this regime means that Russian citizens will collect more documents and pay €80 instead of €35 for 1 visa for EU countries. Also, the procedure for issuing the document will be longer. This was reported by Reuters, adding that the validity of the visa may also be reduced.
The high representative of the European Union for foreign policy, Josep Borrel, confirmed the decision to discontinue the issue of visas under the simplified program. The politician also added that the European Union will not recognize passports that an illegitimate government issued in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
"This will significantly reduce the number of new visas issued by EU countries. It will be more difficult, it will take more time," he said.
An important sign is that the Czech Republic, which currently presides over the organization, stopped issuing regular visas to Russians in the summer and insists on a ban on visas for Russian tourists throughout the EU.
