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| In the parliamentary commission on the issue of the war in Ukraine, members raise their hands for the establishment of a visa regime with Russia |
All Russian citizens who want to enter, transit or stay in Kosovo, including those with diplomatic passports, must be provided with a visa.
This decision was taken at the meeting of the Government of Kosovo, on Friday, September 30.
"All citizens of the Russian Federation, holders of regular, official, and diplomatic passports, as well as those who have a valid biometric residence permit, issued by the countries of the Schengen area, will be required to obtain a visa of the Republic of Kosovo for entry, transit and stay in the territory of Kosovo", said the Prime Minister, Albin Kurti.
Until today, Russian citizens with diplomatic passports and official passports were allowed to enter, transit and stay without a visa in the territory of the Republic of Kosovo for up to 15 days. Citizens of countries for which Kosovo applies a visa regime who have a valid biometric residence permit, issued by one of the countries of the Schengen Area, could enter Kosovo without a visa.
This was regulated in the Government's decision on entry conditions and visa regime for foreigners in the Republic of Kosovo, taken in 2011.
"This decision is in relation to the international obligations of the Republic of Kosovo and in coherence with the recent decision of the European Union to suspend the Schengen visa facilitation agreement for Russian citizens and the continuation of restrictive and punitive measures against the Russian Federation, due to military aggression against Ukraine", said the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Liza Gashi.
On August 31, the European Union suspended the visa agreement with Russia, calling it a "necessary first step". As a result, Russians will find it more difficult to obtain a visa and the process of obtaining a visa will cost them more.
EU countries have not been able to agree on a complete ban on issuing tourist visas to Russians, because the bloc's member countries do not agree on this issue.