The Czech Republic continued the ban on issuing visas to Russians until March 2024

The Czech Republic will continue the ban on issuing visas for citizens of Russia and Belarus for an hour, until the end of March 2024. Such a decision was taken on Wednesday by the country’s government.

According to the proposal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the ban will also apply to those Russians and Belarusians who have the citizenship of another country.

There is an exception to the general rule – visas can be issued for humanitarian reasons, the ban also does not apply to relatives of EU citizens and those who have a residence permit or permanent residence in the European Union.

The Czech Republic became one of the first countries to stop issuing tourist Schengen visas to Russians after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year. In September, she also banned the entry of citizens of Russia – holders of Schengen visas (in practice, they can enter the country from another country of the Schengen agreement).

In September last year, due to the war in Ukraine, EU countries decided to abandon the simplified procedure for issuing Schengen visas to Russians. Some countries, including the Baltic countries and Finland, almost completely stopped issuing visas. A number of EU states, including Italy, France, Hungary, however, still issue them – including for tourist purposes, although obtaining them has become significantly more difficult.

In the Czech Republic, after the war, more than 400 thousand citizens of Ukraine received the status of temporary protection – this is the largest indicator in the EU after Germany and Poland.

• On Wednesday, the Parliament of Lithuania approved in the first reading a bill prohibiting citizens of Russia, excluded from the list, from applying for visas, residence permits and citizenship of the country, as well as buying real estate in Lithuania. The deputies explained the need for its adoption by the fact that, in their opinion, “the vast majority of Russian citizens support the aggressive military actions of their country and do not take steps to stop the aggression of their country’s regime.”