“Unshakable Devotion to Ukraine”
The Council of the European Union on Friday finally approved the earlier decision on the complete suspension of the simplified visa regime with Russia.
“Today, the Council adopted a resolution completely suspending the visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Russia. As a result, the general rules of visa law will apply to Russian citizens. published On the council website.
According to the document, this will lead to an increase in the visa fee from €35 to €80, the need to provide additional documentary evidence, longer visa processing and stricter rules for issuing multiple visas.
“The Visa Facilitation Agreement provides privileged access to the EU for citizens of trusted partners with whom we share common values. Russia has violated this trust through its war of unjust and unjustified aggression, including indiscriminate attacks against civilians, and it violates the core values of our international community. “Today’s decision is a direct result of Russia’s actions and further proof of our unwavering commitment to Ukraine and its people,” Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said in a statement. Said.
The document states that the EU Council’s decision is expected to enter into force on 12 September 2022.
“There is no reason to give Russian citizens easy access to the EU today, so we proposed, I proposed, and today the European Council will approve a complete suspension of the visa facilitation agreement with Russia. There is no basis for trust in Russia anymore, there is no basis for Russian citizens to have easy access to the EU. Being a tourist in the EU is not a fundamental right, it is a privilege,” he said.
Cancellation of already issued visas
Johansson also said that after September 12, each EU state must evaluate whether visas issued to Russians will be valid.
“The Russians have a million valid visas left. But with the introduction of a new visa regime with Russia on Monday morning, it makes sense to consider whether visas already issued will be valid. This is not just an opportunity to rethink (the issue of the greater validity of visas – socialbites.ca), in our proposals we say that states should take this issue into account, ”said the author.
The European Commissioner added that the European Commission will soon publish its recommendations to EU countries on actions regarding the issuance of visas to Russians in the new conditions for the suspension of the visa facilitation agreement.
Johansson explained that travel from Russia to EU countries on a tourist visa will only be available to journalists and citizens traveling for family and humanitarian reasons.
“There is no reason to trust the Russians anymore. Russians cannot be tourists in the EU, it is a privilege. And we don’t want to give this privilege to the Russians anymore,” he said.
Finnish Interior Minister Krista Mikkonen supported the idea of a complete ban on tourism from Russia to EU countries.
“Finland has always insisted on a joint EU decision, because otherwise the Russians could bypass the softer methods of some countries, in which case Russian tourism would continue. “Separate decisions will also lead to what Putin is striving for, namely the EU’s disintegration in sanctions decisions,” he said.
Russian President’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that after European Commissioner Johansson’s statements, Moscow will “analyze certain steps” and “decide” what to do.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller complained that not all EU countries want to block tourism from Russia.
“We regret that Germany, France or other countries of the European Union did not have the courage to completely abolish tourist visas for Russians,” he said.
Source: Gazeta
