Passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation. File photoMOSCOW, Sep 12France will continue to issue short-term visas to Russians, but will increase fees and processing times, according to the website of the French embassy in Moscow. The publication clarifies that Paris is acting in accordance with the instructions of the Council of the European Union . Under the new rules, the visa fee will more than double — from 35 euros to 80. In addition, the consideration of a Schengen request can now take up to 45 days.
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The changes will not affect long-term visas, the embassy emphasized. expensive. New EU visa rules for Russians At the end of August, at an informal meeting in Prague, EU foreign ministers agreed to suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Russia, which would make obtaining them longer, more difficult and more expensive. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on the plans European Union, said that Moscow is not going to be like Brussels in the unreasonable policy of «burning bridges» between people, but reserves the right to retaliate. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, in turn, said that if the European Union imposes restrictions on extradition visas to Russians, their citizens will also face inconvenience when crossing the border. According to him, this is «another spiral of reckless Russophobic attitude.» At the same time, earlier in the Kremlin they expressed hope for the sober thinking of the EU on the issue of issuing a Schengen visa.