According to the unnamed representative of the European Commission, new recommendations for the Bloc countries that should be published at the end of the year will contain recommendations on the more stringent restrictions on the issuance of visas to Russians and citizens of other hostile countries.
The strategy will not establish mandatory rules, but instead will put out general recommendations, including more stringent criteria for the entry of Russians into the block.
Two European diplomats from countries bordering Russia said that their governments had lobbied for years in Brussels by the adoption of such recommendations, and one of the diplomats called them long ago.
Context
The EU has already canceled an agreement on simplifying the visa regime with Russia in September 2022 after Moscow began a full -scale invasion of Ukraine, Politico recalls. However, the issuance of visas remains in the competence of individual countries, and the European Commission cannot introduce a total ban on the entry of Russians to the Blok countries. Some countries, such as Poland, Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, block or seriously limit the issuance of visas to Russian citizens, with the exception of special cases. Others, including Hungary, France, Spain and Italy, retain a softer approach.
