Facilitating short-term visas
Talks on the introduction of a visa-free regime was not on the table, but representatives of the EU and Russia in a recent meeting instead agreed that there is a need for facilitation of short-term visas.
A joint statement from the Russia-EU Permanent Partnership Council on Freedom, Security and Justice reads that negotiations aimed at introducing amendments to the EU-Russia Visa Facilitation Agreement will be launched and that these amendments are likely to facilitate short-term travelling for EU and Russian citizens, including for obtaining multiple-entry visas.
Visa Facilitation Agreement between the EU and Russia is from 2007 opens up for a lowering of visa requirements for a number of groups, among them students, researchers, officials and business people.
Meanwhile, the much-discussed introduction of a visa-free regime was not on the agenda in the Partnership Council meeting, which took place in Brussels last week.
Russia is eager to get concrete on visa-free traveling, and in a the EU-Russia Summit in Rostov-on-Don in May this year presented a set of proposals on how to proceed on the issue. The EU meanwhile argues that visa-free travel is a long-term objective and is reluctant to discuss timelines. The EU has reportedly not yet responded to the proposals presented by the Russians in May.
Read also: Russia awaits EU response on visa issue
The representatives at last week’s Partnership Council meeting also agreed that there is a need for improved conditions for simplified traveling of residents living in the border areas between the EU and Russia. Russia is especially interested in making the EU approve the inclusion of the whole Kaliningrad Oblast in an agreement on local border traffic.
As BarentsObserver has reported, Russia’s first ever local border traffic agreement was signed with Norway earlier this month.
