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While the Russia-Ukraine war has been going on since February 24, a remarkable move has come from the EU countries. The European Union (EU) has shelved rules that make it easier to issue visas to Russians, while Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, which have long advocated completely stopping issuing visas within the Union, have completely stopped receiving Schengen applications.

The visa facilitation agreement which has been in effect since June 2007 between the EU and Russia for easy access has been announced that it has been suspended on September 12.

The rules for Russian citizens who want to obtain a Schengen visa will now consist of general conditions.

– The European Union (EU) has announced that it has completely suspended the agreement that provides visa facilitation for Russian citizens.

– In a written statement, the EU Council announced that the visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Russia has been completely suspended, after which the general rules on visas for Russian citizens will apply Decisively. “This will result in an increase in the visa application fee from 35 euros to 80 euros, the need to submit additional documents, longer visa processing times and more restrictive rules for issuing multiple-entry visas,” the statement said.

The statement noted that:

“A visa facilitation agreement provides privileged access to the EU to the citizens of our trusted partners, with whom we share values. Russia has broken this trust and trampled on basic values with its unjustified war, including indiscriminate attacks on civilians. The decision is a direct result of Russia’s actions and further proof of our unwavering commitment to Ukraine and its people.”

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SOME COUNTRIES HAVE STOPPED ISSUING VISAS ALTOGETHER

Although the EU’s decision only meant that it became more difficult for Russian citizens to obtain visas, more documents were required for applications, visa procedures took longer and application fees increased, some of the member states stopped issuing visas to Russian citizens altogether.

The Baltic states, Poland, Finland, in some countries, such as your Pull for some time supported this idea, but France, Germany, opposes members such as Greece and Cyprus, and instead just wanted the controls to be tightened.

Following the outbreak of the war, different practices were also observed among the member countries. Dec.

The Czech Republic and Poland took the lead on this issue by stopping issuing visas to Russian citizens shortly after Russia started a war in Ukraine. Estonia stopped issuing visas and residence permits to Russian citizens in August.

Russia’s other European neighbor Latvia has long supported the introduction of an EU-wide ban on Russian tourists and stopped issuing visas for an indefinite time at the beginning of August.

The Netherlands also stopped issuing short-term visas to Russians in April after Russia expelled employees of its Embassy in Amsterdam.

A similar decision came from Belgium at the beginning of July. As of July 1, Belgium does not issue tourist visas, although it continues to issue other types of visas.

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THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS DECREASED BY 90 PERCENT

After the EU agreed to suspend the visa facilitation agreement, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland announced in a joint statement that they have officially stopped issuing visas to Russian citizens as of September 19.

Finland, which shares the largest border with Russia, reduced the number of visa applications processed by 90 percent from 1,000 to 100 per week after the EU’s decision.

Denmark and France also reported that they have suspended the visa facilitation agreement in accordance with the EU’s decision.

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