The European Commission presented this Friday more demanding guidelines for the issuance of visas to Russian citizens indicating that, in case of doubt, these are not issued.
“We have a more rigorous evaluation and a more complete security evaluation when it comes to new visas”said, at a press conference, the European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson.
The Commissioner added that “Member States must do a very thorough security assessment and if a person could be a threat to the security or a threat to the international relations of some of the Member States, that person should not receive a visa.”
The rules were revised in order to have reinforced security checks on visa issuance and also on border controls, in the context of Moscow’s recent escalation of the war.
Visas cannot be applied for in third countries either, but only from Russia, with very specific exceptions, such as for humanitarian or family reasons.
Regarding those fleeing President Vladimir Putin’s recent decision to mobilize 300,000 people to wage war in Ukraine, Johansson stressed that “if there is any doubt as to whether the person will not leave the European Union (EU) within the 90 days stipulated in a Schengen visa, then the Schengen visa should not be issued”, also specifying that the rules do not apply to asylum seekers in the EU.
The guidelines do not cover applications for residence or asylum, but only short-term visas, up to 90 days.
Brussels also argues that member states will have to revoke or reassess valid visas already issued, in the context of this new security situation.
The guidelines presented this Friday call for reinforcing border control. The new measures come after Putin signed, in Moscow, the annexation treaties of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, despite international and kyiv condemnation.
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Source: Observadora
