All news

Russian state flag hoisted in front of consular department in The Hague

It should be noted that along with expanding trade and economic cooperation, our countries are actively developing consular ties

THE HAGUE, June 29 (Itar-Tass) —— A Russian state flag has been hoisted in front of the Russian embassy’s consular department in the Hague.

“The flag was hoisted here for the first time in the past 25 years,” after the capital repairs of the building, Yuri Bavykin, the head of the consular department, told Itar-Tass on Thursday. After the repairs, the areas inside the building have been expanded two-fold, he said and added that now there are no queues outside. Moreover, the Russian embassy has upgraded its website to offer visitor an option of electronic appointments.

“It should be noted that along with expanding trade and economic cooperation, our countries are actively developing consular ties. Thus, over the past five years, the number of Russian visas issued by the embassy’s consular department in the Netherlands has grown from 40,000 to 50,000 [in 2011], the number of Russian passports issued here increased from 600 to 2,000 [also in 2011],” Bavykon said. “From this year, the consular department is issuing biometric Russian passports.”

“Active work is underway to prepare for a very important event for our countries in 2013 – the Year of Russia in the Netherland and the Year of the Netherlands in Russia. It is planned to organize a great number of very interesting events in 2013,” he added.