The European Commission announced on Twitter today that it has issued the guidelines to help European Union states partially halt the Visa Facilitation Agreement with Russian Federation.
Russia’s Visa Facilitation Agreement suspension is part of the European Union’s sanctions stemming from Russia’s unprovoked aggression in neighboring Ukraine.
An agreement between the European Community and the Russian Federation has been in force from 1 June 2007.
“Russian officials and businesspeople no longer have privileged access to the EU. Today we put forward guidelines to help EU countries in applying the partial suspension of the Visa Facilitation Agreement with Russia,” the EC tweet reads.
“The suspension does not affect ordinary Russian citizens,” the European Commission added.
Visa Facilitation Agreement is an agreement between the European Union and a non-European Union country that facilitates the issuance by an EU Member State of authorizations to the citizens of that non-EU country for transiting through or an intended stay in the territory of the EU Member States of a duration of no more than three months in any six-month period from the date of first entry into the territory of the EU Member States.