The European Union will not completely prohibit access to European visas for Russian citizens and tourists, because the measure demanded by the Baltic countries or Poland does not attract unanimity from the Twenty-seven and there are European partners who consider that it could give Moscow oxygen in its anti-European propaganda and that it is necessary to continue keeping the doors open to certain groups. But the foreign ministers of the European Union yes they have managed to close a political agreement by which the one who commit to suspend fully the Visa Facilitation Agreement signed with Russia in 2007which guaranteed privileged conditions of access to community territory.
The pact was already partially suspended on February 25, within the framework of the second package of sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. Since then, members of the Russian government and parliament, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, citizens with diplomatic passports, members of official Russian delegations as well as businessmen and representatives of business organizations did not benefit from the privileged access guaranteed by the agreement and were subject to much more complicated and cumbersome access conditions to community territory, with much more expensive procedures for traveling to the EU and longer response times from the authorities.
We have seen a substantial increase in border crossings from Russia into neighboring states. This is becoming a security risk.
We therefore agree today with EU Foreign Ministers on Full Suspension of the EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement. pic.twitter.com/zdowgdOa8F
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 31, 2022
“Visa facilitation is done to facilitate (access). If it ends there will be no more ease. Visas will be more difficult to obtain. It will still be possible to obtain new visas, but in a much smaller number & rdquor ;, Borrell said at the end of a informal advice two-day conference held in Prague (Czech Republic) which focused above all on the situation in Ukraine. As he explained, since mid-July there has been a substantial increase in the number of border crossings between Russia and neighboring countries, which poses a security risk. He has also highlighted that there are many Russians who continue to travel to the EU for tourism and shopping, “as if there were not a war in Ukraine & rdquor ;, and the Member States consider that it cannot continue like this.
Longer and more expensive process
Despite the division of opinions, the Twenty-seven were clear that “something had to be done & rdquor; and the result has been the total suspension of the Visa Facilitation Agreement. “This means that the number of new visas issued by Member States will be significantly reduced. The process will be more difficult and longer and consequently the number of visas will be substantially reduced & rdquor ;, he added about a common approach that will also prevent Russians from going from one EU country to another looking for the one that offers the best access conditions .
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The pact closed by the Twenty-seven, which will still have to be formally developed and agreed upon, also includes the commitment to analyze each visa application individually, particularly for certain groups. “We do not want to separate ourselves from those Russians who are against the war in Ukraine. We do not want to cut (ties) with Russian civil society & rdquor ;, he added.
border controls
The commitment also includes the acceptance that the countries bordering Russia, which are facing a “difficult” situation, can adopt national measures to restrict entry into its territory and an assignment to the European Commission to examine the situation of the millions of valid visas and develop guidelines for action. “The situation in neighboring countries is challenging. We recognize that these countries can take measures at the national level to restrict entry to the European Union through their borders in accordance with the Schengen border code of the European Union”, Borrell announced. opening the door to a regional solution. From the debate in Prague also comes the commitment not to recognize the passports issued by the Russian authorities of the occupied territories in Ukraine.