The government of the Czech Republic, in response to the proposal of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jan Lipavskyi, increased visa restrictions for citizens of Russia.
This is stated on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country.
"While in Ukraine, Russian rockets fall on childrenʼs playgrounds and on people who are just going to work, up to 200 citizens of the Russian Federation go to the Czech Republic through the international airport every day. Thatʼs why we agreed on denying entry to those Russian citizens who come to the territory of the Czech Republic through the external borders of Schengen — that is, through our international airport — for the purpose of tourism, sports, or culture," said Jan Lipavskyi.
According to him, this will apply to Russians who have valid Schengen visas issued by any EU member state.
The decision will enter into force on October 25. Thus, the Czech Republic will join the Baltic countries, Poland and Finland, which have already closed their borders to Russian tourists.
- On September 12, the EU Councilʼs decision to suspend the simplified visa regime with Russia, which had been in effect since 2007, entered into force. The process of obtaining visas to EU countries for Russians has become much longer and more expensive. The same decisions were made by Switzerland and Norway.
- Since September 19, Russian citizens are prohibited from entering Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland with tourist Schengen visas issued in any EU country.
- After Putin announced partial mobilization, many Russians began to flee the country. Latvia, Estonia, and the Czech Republic have already declared that they will not issue humanitarian visas to Russians fleeing mobilization. Kazakhstan also declared that it would not grant them asylum.
- On September 29, the Finnish government decided to significantly limit passenger transportation on the Russian-Finnish border.