Cyprus’ entry into Schengen will not create problems for Russians – Kommersant

The Russian Ambassador to Cyprus, Murat Zyazikov, confirmed to Kommersant that the island is waiting for the resumption of direct flights with the Russian Federation and hopes for the restoration of the flow of Russian tourists.

“Currently, the number of Russian tourists in Cyprus is growing, despite the current restrictions, including the lack of direct flights,” said Mr. Zyazikov. “In just eight months of 2023, the tourist flow from our country amounted to over 41 thousand people, which is already comparable to the result for all of 2022.” Currently, Russians can enter Cyprus with a national visa or with an open multiple-entry Schengen visa.

The ambassador does not believe that Cyprus’s plans to join the Schengen zone will affect tourists from Russia. “Indeed, joining the Schengen Agreement area has been named by the Cypriot authorities as one of the main foreign policy priorities for 2024. They declared the corresponding readiness back in 2019 and over the past four years they have formally fulfilled the entire set of preconditions (including integration with the profile information system SIS II in July of this year) necessary for accession to Schengen, recalls Murat Zyazikov. “At the same time, neither neither Nicosia itself nor Brussels are in a hurry to make predictions regarding the exact date of the expected event. As an option (besides 2024), experts name 2026, when Cyprus will take the EU chairmanship.”

Mr. Zyazikov does not believe that Russians will have problems obtaining visas if Cyprus joins the Schengen Agreement: “Russians wishing to come to Cyprus will certainly have to complete all known formalities to obtain visas, including submitting biometrics and confirming financial support for the trip. But the procedure is no different from that when obtaining Schengen visas at visa centers in Italy or Spain.”

“Love, as we know, knows no boundaries,” says the ambassador. “The potential entry of Cyprus into the Schengen zone will not become an obstacle for conscientious Russian tourists who passionately and sincerely love this beautiful country with a calm patriarchal way of life and a friendly people who mutually sympathize with us.”

According to the embassy, ​​more than 120 thousand Russian citizens permanently reside in Cyprus. The Russian Embassy in Nicosia, according to Mr. Zyazikov, “pays the closest attention to protecting the rights and interests of both vacationers and our fellow citizens permanently residing on the island. In August 2023, for the first time in the history of Russian-Cypriot relations, we began full-fledged consular services for our compatriots living in the north of the island; in the first two months of this work alone, over 2 thousand people received the necessary consular services.”

As reported TASSin October, the head of the Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots of Cyprus, Dmitry Apraksin, conveyed to the Russian Ambassador in Nicosia a collective appeal of Cypriot Russians to President Vladimir Putin with a request to nominate their candidacy for a new term.

Ivan Tyazhlov