The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia announced the termination of the acceptance of documents for all types of visas from Russians

Since June 26, Latvia has stopped accepting applications from Russian citizens for all types of visas. About it says in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic.

“Due to the unpredictable development of domestic political events in Russia, since June 26, 2023, the acceptance of applications for all types of visas from Russian citizens has been suspended at the diplomatic and consular missions of Latvia abroad,” the statement said.

At the same time, all documents that were accepted before June 25 inclusive will be processed in full, the diplomatic mission specified.

That Latvia will stop issuing all types of visas to Russians, including humanitarian ones, on June 24 announced President of the Republic Edgar Rinkevich. According to him, the border guard was strengthened against the backdrop of an armed rebellion in Russia.

On September 9, 2022, the Council of the European Union decided to completely suspend the visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Russia. Then the foreign ministers of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia agreed on restrictions on the entry of Russians into the Schengen zone through their land borders from September 19.

On the night of June 24, an armed rebellion was attempted in Russia. On the evening of June 23, in the Telegram channel of the press service of the founder of PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin, there were reports of a strike on the rear camps of the company. The Ministry of Defense immediately denied this information, calling it a provocation. That same evening, the FSB opened a criminal case against Prigozhin under the article on armed rebellion.

The next day, June 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a video message, calling the rebellion an internal betrayal and a “stab in the back” to the country. In Moscow, the Moscow and Voronezh regions, a counter-terrorist operation (CTO) regime was introduced, which was canceled today, June 26th. On June 24, Wagner managed to block Rostov-on-Don and take control of the city’s military facilities. On the evening of June 24, the Kremlin reported on the agreements reached with the founder of the PMC. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held talks with him, Prigozhin agreed to take measures to de-escalate the situation. In particular, the founder of the PMC announced the return of fighters and equipment to field camps. It was decided to stop the criminal case against the businessman. However, on June 26, RIA Novosti, Interfax, Kommersant and TASS, citing sources, reported that the criminal case against Prigozhin on organizing a military mutiny had not yet been closed.