The Foreign Ministry announced the impracticable visa requirements for Russian tourists in the EU

Earlier, a number of European countries completely stopped issuing Schengen to Russians, and the simplified visa regime was also suspended. The Foreign Ministry said

The states of the European Union (EU) have minimized the issuance of multiple-entry visas for Russian citizens, and a number of countries put forward obviously impossible conditions for obtaining entry permits for tourists. This was stated in an interview with TASS by Deputy Foreign Minister of RUSSIA Yevgeny Ivanov.

“Some EU countries, while not formally refusing to issue visas to Russians, put forward obviously impossible conditions. In particular, they require payment of visa fees through Western banks or the presentation of a medical insurance policy of a foreign insurer, which is extremely problematic in the face of unprecedented Western sanctions,” he said.

Ivanov also noted that the issuance of multiple-entry visas to Russians has now been reduced to a minimum.

The HEAD of the Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building of the Federation Council Andrey Klishas, ​​commenting on Ivanov's statement, pointed out that it "is evidence of discrimination and treatment of Russians as second-class people." “Such a policy of Western countries has been carried out for more than a day, and we still cannot get a clear position from our Foreign Ministry - what response actions Russia is ready to take against these countries in response to open discrimination. It is necessary that the rules for issuing Russian visas to foreign citizens be mirrored and contain the same (up to impossible) set of requirements,” the senator emphasized.

Finnish Foreign Minister allowed a complete EU ban on issuing visas to Russians Politics

After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, several European countries suspended the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians. In particular, Finland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Poland did so. In addition, the European Union has suspended the simplified visa regime with Russia since September 12. The fee has increased from €35 to €80, the period for reviewing applications has increased from 15 to 45 days, and tourists have decided to give low priority when considering (they may also request additional documents).

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In the Kremlin, commenting on the discussion of a possible complete ban on the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians, they expressed the hope that "opponents will retain at least a small amount of sober thinking." If the measures are nevertheless introduced, Russia will respond to them, they added.

Before the CORONAVIRUS pandemic, Russia topped the list of countries whose citizens applied for a visa to the Schengen countries. In 2019, Russians filed about 4 million applications for a Schengen visa, or more than 23% of all applications. In 2020, when the pandemic began and many countries closed their borders, 635,000 Schengen visas were issued to Russians.