Lavrov urged not to take countermeasures in response to EU visa restrictions

Russia should not close down and take mirror measures on EU visa restrictions. This was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting with students and faculty of MGIMO.

“We will not self-isolate, I believe that in response to these “Schengen walls” that they are now trying to arrange for us, we do not need to close, we do not need to reciprocate and collectively punish citizens of European countries,” Lavrov said (quote according to TASS). He added that “favorite characters” have already been included in the sanctions lists of Russia.

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the European authorities are “ridiculous” and stressed that Russia should not be like them and respond “stupidity to stupidity.”

Lavrov clarified that this does not mean that Moscow needs to do nothing. “Of course, no one has canceled reciprocity, it must be used purposefully against the organizers, organizers and executors of such anti-Russian sanctions,” the minister added.

The day before, a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the EU countries was held in Prague, at which, among other things, the issue of banning the issuance of visas to Russian citizens was discussed. Several EU countries, including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, actively support this initiative, while a number of countries oppose it.

As a result, the EU countries came to a compromise and decided to terminate the simplified procedure for issuing visas. “This means that the number of visas issued will significantly decrease, it will be more difficult and longer to obtain visas,” said EU diplomat Josep Borrell.

Earlier, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if a complete ban on issuing visas to Russians is adopted, Europeans may also face inconvenience when traveling to Russia. He promised that Russia would not leave such decisions unanswered.

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