Following the meeting, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the ban on the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens could not be agreed upon, as "many were against it," RIA Novosti reported.
France, Germany, Greece, Cyprus and Portugal have previously spoken out against the ban. Germany and France issued a joint statement urging EU countries to refrain from a decision on a complete visa ban, pointing out the possible negative consequences of such a decision.
Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Poland were in favor of the ban. These countries have also reported plans to introduce a number of restrictions at the national level if the pan-European decision to ban is not supported. In particular, Finland has already limited the number of accepted applications, and Estonia has closed the borders for holders of Schengen visas issued by it from Russia.
However, by a majority vote, it was decided to terminate the visa facilitation agreement with Russia. The consular fee will be 80 euros instead of 35 as before, and the number of documents required for applying for a visa will also increase.
Since the meeting was informal, no final practical decisions can be made after the meeting, and on the issue of visa restrictions, a political decision is expected on further actions at the EU level.
Also, the issue of banning and restricting the issuance of visas was submitted for discussion as part of the next package of sanctions against Russia.
Source: RIA Novosti
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