The Council of the European Union today formally adopted the decision to suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Russia, whose citizens will find it more difficult to travel to EU territory from Monday.
The formal approval by the Council, the institution in which the 27 Member States are represented, follows the proposal presented by the European Commission last Tuesday, following the political agreement reached by EU foreign ministers on 31 August in Prague. .
Due to the suspension of the agreement, in force since 2007, Russian citizens will no longer have facilities to apply for a short-stay visa in the Schengen area of free movement, and the general rules of the Visa Code will apply.
In practice, Russian applicants are now faced with higher visa fees – the price increases from €35 to €80 for all applicants – and an increase in processing time, with the normal deadline for consulates deciding on visa applications being extended from 10 to 15 days, a period that can be extended in individual cases to a maximum of 45 days, if further investigation of the application is necessary.
There are also stricter rules for multiple-entry visas, with Russian applicants no longer having easy access to valid multiple-entry visas into the Schengen area, and a longer list of supporting documents is also required.
“A visa facilitation agreement gives privileged access to the EU for citizens of trusted partners with whom we share common values. With its unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression, including its indiscriminate attacks on civilians, Russia has violated this trust.” fundamental values of our international community,” said the Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic, the country that chairs the Council of the EU this semester.
Vit Rakusan added that “today’s decision is a direct result of Russia’s actions” and further proof of the European bloc’s “unshakable commitment” to Ukraine and its people.
The decision to suspend the visa agreement with Russia was taken by the diplomatic heads of the 27 during the political ‘rentrée’ meeting, which was held in Prague at the end of August, about six months after the start of the invasion of Ukraine. on 24 February, with Portugal deeming the measure “balanced”.
“There is no reason for us to have a visa facilitation mechanism with regard to Russia that we do not have with so many other countries in the world, and that is why we are going to end the visa facilitation agreement,” said Minister João Gomes Cravinho, adding that “this will lead to a much higher level of requirements, and thus a tighter sieve in the verification of documentation of those traveling to the EU”.
According to Commission data, about 963,000 Russians were in possession of valid visas for the Schengen area on 1 September this year.
According to the Council, the decision should be published in the Official Gazette today and apply from next Monday the 12th.
In a statement, the Council points out that the European Commission will shortly “present additional guidelines to ensure that this suspension does not negatively affect certain people traveling to the EU for essential purposes, such as journalists, dissidents and representatives of civil society “. .
Source: DN
