Russian citizens will have the arrangement allowing them relatively easy access to Europe's Schengen Area scrapped on Monday after the European Council adopted a proposal to suspend an existing visa facilitation agreement with Russia.
The move will lead to a significant drop in the number of new visas issued to Russian citizens, according to EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, who has also repeatedly stressed that dissidents and others in need of protection will still be able to access visas.
From Monday, the application fee for a Schengen visa will increase from €35 ($35) to €80, and more paperwork will be required. Processing times will also be longer and there will be restrictions placed on multiple-entry visas.
The tightening of the rules could lead to visa applications being denied and even current visas being revoked. The EU guidelines provide states with wide discretionary powers as well as a basis for a more detailed examination of applications.
At the same time, the EU remains open to applicants travelling for urgent reasons, in particular family members of EU citizens, journalists, dissidents and representatives of civil society. States can reduce or completely waive visa fees for members of these groups.
A visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Russia has been in place since 2007, though it was suspended for business people, government representatives and diplomats soon after the invasion of Ukraine in February.
The Baltic states and Poland have already announced tougher measures that will ban all Russian citizens travelling on Schengen tourist visas from entering their territories from September 19.
The Schengen area includes 22 of the 27 EU member states as well as four other European countries.
