FT: The heads of foreign affairs of European countries are ready to cancel the simplified visa regime with Russia

The heads of the ministries of foreign affairs of European countries plan to support the suspension of the agreement on the simplification of the EU visa regime with Russia.

This was reported by the Financial Times with reference to officials participating in the negotiations.

It is planned to cancel the simplified visa regime with Russia during the meeting of the heads of foreign affairs in Prague, which will begin on Tuesday, August 30.

The restrictions will affect all Russians. They will require more documents (the number of bureaucratic checks will increase), and the process of obtaining a visa will become longer and more expensive — it will cost €80 instead of €35, as the head of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavsky said earlier.

• A number of European Union countries are discussing the possibility of banning the issuing of visas to citizens of Russia. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic have already taken such an initiative. Some of these countries have already suspended the issuance of visas to Russians or reduced their number.
• Against the idea of banning the issuance of visas to Russians, Germany, Hungary and Portugal. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also spoke against it.
• Denmark has already stated that it is ready to limit the issuance of visas to Russians regardless of the EUʼs decision. Poland is separately developing a concept that will allow Russians to be denied visas. The Czech Republic offers a compromise — to cancel the simplified visa regime with the Russian Federation.