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EU will not halt issuing Schengen visas to Russians — ATOR vice president

The expert recalled that 550,000 Schengen visas were issued to Russians in 2024

MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. The EU countries will not stop issuing Schengen visas to Russians, but they could complicate the process, Artur Muradyan, vice president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), general director of the tour operator Space Travel, told TASS.

"They will not stop issuing visas completely. They may complicate it, perhaps the consulates that are still issuing long visas will shorten the validity of visas to the number of days of the trip. Such a situation is quite possible," he said.

The expert recalled that last year, 550,000 Schengen visas were issued to Russians, while before the pandemic, the figure was about 4 million. The total outbound tourist flow abroad from Russia is about 16 million trips.

Earlier, the European publication Politico reported that the EU is going to toughen its position on issuing visas to Russian citizens. The publication noted that Brussels intends to publish new regulations for the bloc's countries by the end of the year, which will contain stricter recommendations for issuing visas to Russians.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Greek news portal pronews.gr reported that Greece, along with Italy, Spain, France and Hungary, has blocked the EU proposal to introduce new restrictions on the issuance of visas to Russian citizens.

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