VIENNA, Jan 16 The EU must not miss a possible ban visas for Russians, it is necessary to think about the next day in relations with Moscow, writes the Kronen Zeitung newspaper, citing a statement by Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg. — the minister noted at a conference in Paris.
According to him, against the backdrop of the Ukrainian crisis, one should also think about «the next day, next week and next month» in relations with Russia. The OSCE, one of the few remaining platforms where Russian diplomats are present, can play a special role in this matter, Schallenberg added. invite Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to a ministerial conference in Lodz.
The diplomat also urged «not to lose a sense of proportion» in contacts with Moscow. He emphasized that now «there are less than zero crossings with Russia», but without it it is impossible to imagine a stable security architecture.
In September 2022, the EU Council completely suspended the visa facilitation with Russia. After that, one of the prerequisites for obtaining a Schengen visa was the availability of insurance purchased from a European company. At the same time, it is impossible to pay for the policy from Russian accounts.
In November, Russian parliamentarians were denied visas to attend the autumn session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Warsaw, then France did not provide documents for the participation of Russian representatives in the 33rd session of the Intergovernmental Council of the UNESCO International Programme.
Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov called these restrictions another ridiculous decision in a series of ongoing absurdities.