Germany proposes to suspend visa facilitation agreement with Russia
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Germany offers EU countries to suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Russia, German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock said. transmits TASS.
“My proposal, and I think it has a good reason, is to make it clear that we are suspending the visa facilitation agreement. [с Россией]”, – she said.
According to her, we are talking, in particular, about the termination of the issuance of multi-year Schengen visas to citizens of the Russian Federation. This step, Burbock believes, will be a compromise between countries that want to completely ban Russians from entering the EU, and countries that are not ready for such measures.
An informal meeting of EU foreign ministers will be held from 30 to 31 August in Prague. It will discuss the continuation of military, political and financial assistance to Ukraine, as well as visa restrictions for Russians. How reported Today, The Washington Post newspaper, at the meeting, most likely, will not decide which categories of Russians can enter the EU and under what conditions. According to the publication’s sources, countries may opt for a compromise solution by suspending the simplified visa regime with Russia. According to them, this will seriously complicate obtaining visas for Russians and make the process more expensive.
Earlier today Politico newspaper informed about the idea of the EU countries to raise visa prices for Russians and slow down their issuance. The publication refers to a letter that, on the eve of an informal meeting of foreign ministers, Germany and France sent to other countries. In it, the countries argue that restrictive measures could alienate Russians and cause divisions between some Western leaders and Eastern European countries.
In early August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western countries to ban Russians from entering Europe. After this proposal to limit the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians began to sound in some EU countries.
Thus, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic have already suspended the issuance of visas to Russians. Estonia decided to close the borders for Russian citizens with visas that were issued by the republic. Finland also restricted the issuance of visas. Today, the initiative to stop issuing visas to Russians was supported by the Netherlands.
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