Discussions among the relevant EU institutions to examine how the EU-Russia Visa Facilitation Agreement, that was fully suspended on Wednesday during the informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers (Gymnich) in Prague, will be implemented, will begin in the immediate future, according to a Foreign Ministry press release issued on Thursday.
During the meeting, the majority of the member states, including Cyprus, opposed a horizontal ban on EU visas for Russian citizens. Instead, European Union Foreign Ministers suspended the visa facilitation deal with Moscow, making it difficult for Russians to obtain visas to travel to the bloc.
This, said the FM, does not imply a visa ban. Instead, it will make the visa process more demanding. EU member states, the Foreign Ministry added, continue to maintain the right to examine visa applications by Russian citizens which they can approve or reject.
In the immediate future, discussions are expected to begin within the competent EU bodies to examine how to implement the decision, the Foreign Ministry added.
Source: Cyprus News Agency