GENEVA, January 11. /TASS/. Switzerland has joined the decision by the European Union not to recognize foreign passports issued to residents of the four new Russian regions, the Swiss Federal Council (government) said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the statement, "The new Russian travel documents <...> [issued in the liberated regions of Ukraine] no longer give the right to obtain a visa or cross the external borders of the Schengen Area. The relevant decision was made by the EU on December 8, 2022. The Federal Council made this decision at a meeting on January 11, 2023." The move also affects Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"The European Commission determines which travel documents issued after a certain date will no longer be accepted. Exceptions can be made if the holders of travel documents were already Russian citizens before the cut-off date, as well as for their descendants, minors and disabled people," the Swiss government specified.
Last September, Switzerland said it would not recognize the accession of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Russia.
On October 5, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the accession of the two Donbass republics, the Zaporozhye Region and the Kherson Region to Russia. From September 23 to September 27, the four regions held a referendum where the majority voted to join Russia. Later, the Russian president and the heads of the four regions signed accession treaties.