EU suspends visa facilitation for Russia

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Photo: IMAGO/NomadSoul / IMAGO/Panthermedia

An agreement between the EU and Russia has made it easier for travelers to obtain visas since 2007.

Now Brussels will suspend the regulation completely.

This was announced by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell after consultations with the foreign ministers in Prague.

This will "significantly reduce" the number of new visas for Russian citizens.

The move is another punitive measure in response to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

However, a general visa ban is not planned after the basic agreement.

The EU is divided on the question of issuing visas to Russians (read more about this here ): Some states are in favor of a complete freeze on issuing visas, while others - including Germany - take a critical view of this.

The fact that the relief is now being suspended is symbolically significant, but has manageable practical consequences.

Russian citizens have to pay 80 euros for a visa instead of the previous 35 euros, but they can still enter the country.

This is far too weak, especially for the Baltic countries and Poland, but also for countries like Finland, Sweden and Denmark – they would prefer a general entry ban for all Russians.

Estonia, Latvia, Finland and the Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU Council Presidency, have already announced or introduced such bans, and Poland is currently examining this.

More soon at SPIEGEL.de.

mrc/nck/dpa/AFP