MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Member states of the European Union reduced almost to nothing the amount of issued multiple-entry visas for Russian nationals, while some countries came up with impossible entry visa requirements for Russian tourists, Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov told TASS on Monday.
"Some countries of the European Union are not officially denying the issuance of entry visas to Russian nationals, but purposefully roll out impossible requirements," Ivanov said in an interview with TASS.
"They particularly request to provide payments for visa issuance fees via Western banks or demand to submit an insurance certificate issued by a foreign company, which is extremely problematic under the unprecedented Western sanctions," the diplomat noted.
"The number of issued multiple-entry visas for Russian citizens has been brought almost to nothing," according to Ivanov.
On September 6, the European Commission adopted a decision that fully suspended its visa facilitation agreement with Russia. The decision targeted the raise in the short-term of Schengen visa application fee from 35 euro to 80 euro.
In addition, the document aimed to widen the amount of documents and lengthen the visa processing time up to 45 days. EU member countries had expanded powers to deny visas or issue travel permits restricted to the timeframes of a trip or issue single-entry visas instead of multiple-entry ones.
The Council of the European Union actually allowed member countries to impose additional individual entry restrictions on Russian nationals. These, among other things, included valid visa cancellations on the border for security reasons.