MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. Russia plans to retaliate to the visa restrictions applied by the European Union, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov said at a State Duma session on Wednesday.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry has developed a bill on the suspension by the Russian Federation of treaties and certain provisions of international treaties with the European Community, the Kingdom of Denmark, Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway and the Swiss Confederation on simplifying the procedure for issuing visas to citizens of the Russian Federation," he said.
The deputy minister said the bill was prepared in pursuance of the decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin of April 4 of this year "On retaliatory measures in the area of visas in connection with unfriendly actions of foreign states."
"As the name implies, [the bill] is a response from the Russian side to the decision of the European Council of February 25, 2022, on the partial suspension of the agreement between the Russian Federation and the European Community on the facilitation of the issuance of visas to the citizens of the Russian Federation and the European Union, which was concluded in May 2006," Ivanov said.
The diplomat said that according to the new procedure established by the EU, holders of diplomatic passports won’t be able to obtain a multiple-entry visa, will have to submit documents in person, pay a fee of 80 euros and be required to undergo fingerprinting. The simplified procedure for the issuance of visas for members of official delegations, national and regional governments and parliaments, representatives of the judiciary and entrepreneurs was also cancelled.
The Russian bill requires similar procedures for EU citizens, diplomatic passport holders and members of official delegations, the official said. An asymmetrical response has been proposed for the EU decision to make it harder for businessmen to obtain visas, he said. Russia believes it’s "counterproductive" to create hurdles for businesspeople in the conditions of "unprecedented economic pressure" on the country, Ivanov said.