Czech Republic to ban entry of Russian tourists from October 25

 

St. Ludmila's Basilica is illuminated during a lighting festival on October 13, 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic.

• Regardless of the issuing country, the ban will apply to all Russians who have tourist visas, said Czechia's foreign minister in Prague.

The Czech Republic's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipowski recently announced that the European country will impose an entry ban for Russian tourists on 25 October, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.

Czechia's foreign affairs minister in Prague said the ban would apply to all Russians holding tourist visas, regardless of the issuing country.

With this, the ban applies not only to Russians who have been granted Schengen visas by the Czech authorities, but also to Russian visitors who have been granted visas by other Schengen-affiliated countries.

Radio Free Europe explained that Minister Lipovsky cited the ruthless bombing of civilians in Ukraine as the reason for the ban, as the Czech Republic cannot ignore it.


Before the Czech Republic, several other countries had already taken such a decision in September and banned the entry of all tourists from Russia.

Four EU says border Russia - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland - had already banned Russian tourists from entering their territory on 19 September.

The foreign ministers of these four countries were quoted as saying that the decision to impose sanctions on Russians was taken on the common ground of protecting internal security, public policy and overall security of the Schengen area. Also, these ministers urged other EU countries to impose similar restrictions on Russian tourists.

Latvia's Prime Minister Krijanis Kari recently called on the leaders of all EU countries to stop issuing tourist visas to citizens of Russia. He said he does not support the idea that allowing entry into the European Union for Russians fleeing the Union would weaken the Kremlin's armed forces.

Meanwhile, the EU Council had previously planned for Georgia not to accept Russian travel documents issued in Ukraine. The EUC had said that the EU ambassadors have agreed to a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament on a decision on the non-acceptance of Russian travel documents issued in the two above-mentioned countries, schengenVisaInfo.com reports.

The decision was taken amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Russia's unilateral decision to recognize the independence of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008.