Finland basic will reduce Number of tourist visas issued to Russians. Priority will be given to applicants who wish to visit the country for family, educational or business reasons. This was announced by Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto on Tuesday, August 16.
“To limit the issuance of visas to Russians, a mechanism has been prepared in which the number of ordinary tourist visas will be reduced and those traveling for family, education or business reasons will be given priority. I believe such a decision would be quite reasonable.” Yeah.
According to him, Russians receive about 1,000 applications for a Finnish visa every day. In the future, this number may be reduced to 100-200 per day.
The Finnish Foreign Minister stressed that the most important thing would be to develop a common EU position on visas for Russian citizens. If major Schengen regulators do not impose restrictions, Russian citizens will be able to travel safely to European countries via Finland. Haavisto plans to raise the issue at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague at the end of August. The European leaders’ decision is expected at the end of September, but Helsinki could take it sooner.
“Decisions at the Finnish level will definitely come out in August,” the head of the foreign ministry said. The country’s Cabinet on Tuesday is expected to discuss the possibility of restricting tourist visas for Russians.
What restrictions apply by other countries?
As a reminder, to citizens of the Russian Federation who have been previously issued a Schengen visa by Estonia since 18 August, will close entry into the territory of this Baltic republic.
On the other hand, Latvia review Previously issued by Riga residence permits. Latvian President Egil Levits said that the issuance of residence permits to permanent residents of the country who will receive Russian citizenship in the future will also be stopped.
According to him, the issuance of tourist visas to citizens of the Russian Federation “must be interrupted at the European level” – such a measure will be an additional sanction against Russia.
At the same time, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he could not even imagine stopping the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians.
The Danish government is also considering the possibility of reducing the number of tourist visas issued to Russians – the reason for this decision is stated Special operations of the RF Armed Forces in Ukraineauthor politics With reference to Korea Dyubwad, Minister of Integration.
Against this background, the question of whether the EU borders will be closed completely for Russians is stark: tourists themselves argue that restrictions will be imposed only at the level of individual countries. In support of this position, the argument is given that it is almost impossible to control movement within the European Union, so he writes that the talk of a complete ban on entry is populist. TourDom.ru.
Travelers themselves try to obtain Schengen visas ‘for future use’, reports Prof.Travel. As the company BSI Group told the publication, the fastest way to issue a Schengen visa is at the consular services of Hungary – there is an appointment for the next few days, and registration also does not take much time. But the main issue is that Hungarian visas are issued only for the duration of the trip.
“Tourists show relatively long travel times if possible and fly from Budapest to other European countries,” said Yvetta Verdiyan, director of the company’s promotion and advertising department.
According to tour operators, the countries with the highest number of visa applications are Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Greece. Until recently, Finland was also on the list of leaders. “The fastest way is to work in the Italian consular services – the process takes two to three weeks. In other countries, the runtime is at least three weeks,” the publication says.