The European Commission proposed to completely suspend the Visa Facilitation Agreement with the Russian Federation

The European Commission has officially come up with a proposal to completely suspend the Visa Facilitation Agreement between the EU and Russia.

This is stated in a statement on the website of the EC, writes “European Truth”.

The proposal to suspend the agreement will put an end to all simplifications for Russian citizens who apply for a short-stay visa to the Schengen area. Instead, the general rules of the Visa Code will apply.

In practice, for Russian applicants this means:

Higher visa fee: it will increase from 35 euros to 80 euros for all applicants.

Extended Processing Time: The standard deadline for visa applications to be decided by consulates will increase from 10 to 15 days. This period may be extended up to a maximum of 45 days in individual cases where further consideration of the application is necessary.

More restrictive rules for multiple entry visas: Applicants will not have easy access to visas valid for multiple entries into the Schengen area.

Longer List of Supporting Documents: Applicants will be required to provide a complete list of supporting documents when applying for a visa.

“A country like Russia, waging a war of conquest, should not claim visa facilitation as long as it continues to pursue its destructive foreign policy and military aggression against Ukraine, demonstrating a complete disregard for the rules-based international order,” the statement reads. statement. .

The European Commission added that the EU will remain open to certain categories of visa applicants traveling for essential purposes, including family members of EU citizens, journalists, dissidents and members of civil society.

Now the Council of the EU has to consider and adopt a proposal to suspend the agreement. Once adopted, the decision will enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. Russia will be notified of the suspension decision no later than 48 hours before it takes effect.

Recall that following the discussion on August 31, EU foreign ministers decided to completely suspend the visa facilitation agreement with the Russian Federation and instructed the European Commission to think about what to do with millions of valid Russian visas.