Schengen will double in price: the EU is preparing to raise the cost of visas for Russians

It seems that this decision will be taken by the leaders of the European Union as a compromise instead of imposing a ban on the entry of Russians, according to Bloomberg .

The Czech Presidency of the EU put forward this idea for discussion at the Community Summit, which will be held next week in Prague. If this proposal passes, then Russian citizens will be able to apply for short-term tourist visas as before, only the price for them will increase from 35 to 80 euros, there will be more bureaucratic obstacles and the processing time of requests will increase.

So far, Bloomberg sources from European officials say that EU countries have not yet reached a consensus and that, despite the cancellation of the visa facilitation agreement, some countries are pushing for more drastic measures. According to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, if a pan-European ban is not adopted, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Estonia will be able to make a "regional decision".

It is known that since August 16, Finland has reduced the issuance of tourist Schengen visas to Russians by 10 times, and Estonia has completely closed the borders since August 11 for Russian citizens with Schengen visas issued by itself, and since August 17 - for holders of all other EU visas.