EU, Russia move closer to visa abolition

EU and Russia negotiate in Brussels on the abolition of the visa regime.

An initial document setting out the steps for this is 99 percent prepared, bringing progress on an issue that has been under negotiation for years.

The document sets out four chapters where EU and Russian policies will have to meet – biometric passports, dealing with illegal immigration, security matters such as coordinating the fight against organized crime and terrorism, and lastly, the abolition of registration for EU citizens who go to Russia.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will soon ratify the full text, according to the Russian representative in Brussels Vladimir Voronko.

“If we get approval by the 27 EU countries and Russia, then it’s highly possible that the document will be ratified during the EU-Russia summit in Brussels at the end of the year.”

Vladimir Voronko sees the end of the visa system sooner rather than later: “We hope that we’ll eventually be able to establish a non-visa system, and that it won’t take 20 or even 10 years.”

Under a simplified system, Russians can eventually get visas for five years. Now they are suggesting easing restrictions further by automatically issuing second visas for EU countries of five years, after the initial one year has expired and making visas free of charge, Euronews reported.