Greece and Cyprus opposed the ban on the issuance of tourist visas to Russians

The authorities of Greece and Cyprus do not support the introduction of a ban on the issuance of tourist visas to Russians, writes Politico.

So, the Foreign Ministry of Cyprus told the publication that a lot of Russians live on the island, and in Limassol, where most of them live, Russian speakers make up almost 20% of the city’s population. The authorities do not want to prevent these people from communicating with their relatives and friends, the Foreign Ministry stressed. In addition, Russia accounts for about 25% of the total tourist flow. In addition, according to Politico, the interest of Russian and Belarusian entrepreneurs, mainly from the IT sector, is growing in Cyprus.

Athens adheres to a similar position, the newspaper notes. Thus, according to available data, in July there was a sharp increase in the number of tourists arriving from Turkey (+177% compared to July pre-Covid 2019), as well as from Serbia (+257%). Most of these tourists are from Russia, according to Greece, pointing out that the Turks usually arrive in the country by water, and the Serbs by car.

The day before, European Commission (EC) representative Anita Hipper said that EU foreign ministers will discuss a coordinated approach to imposing restrictions on the issuance of short-stay visas to Russians at an informal meeting in Prague on August 30-31.

Now the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have already stopped issuing visas to Russians. Denmark and the Netherlands stopped issuing short-stay visas. Germany, represented by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, announced its disagreement with the visa ban for Russian citizens.

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