Translated material
Dialogue without deadlines
Europeans are not interested in visa-free entry to Russia
Today the new EU visa code comes into force, which brings together all the legal norms governing visa issues. Meanwhile, with the approach of the summer season, Russian citizens are once again experiencing increased interest in the issue of visas to Europe.The new EU visa code introduces uniformity into the visa procedures of the Schengen countries, making them clearer, stipulating and reducing the deadlines. For Russian citizens who have received some privileges under the Visa Facilitation Agreement between Russia and the EU since 2007, the price of a Schengen visa remains the same: 35 euros, Michele Cercone, representative of the European Commission for Justice and Internal Affairs, explained to Vremya Novostei.
For all visa applicants, the deadline for processing applications is determined: 14 days after contacting the consulate before visiting with documents and then 15 days until receiving a response. Exactly one year later, after amendments to the laws of some member countries, consulates will have to explain the reasons for refusing a visa, and the applicant will be able to appeal it. At the same time, the new code does not apply to Russian-European negotiations on a mutual visa-free regime for short-term trips (long-term visas for work or study remain the responsibility of individual states).
At present, as Mr. Cercone explained to VN, it is impossible to single out one or two specific problems, the solution of which would make it possible to switch to a visa-free regime between Russia and the EU. “This is a dialogue that is conducted in such cases with all countries. We are working in good contact with the Russian authorities, we are reviewing the articles and paragraphs in order, there are a lot of issues that need to be clarified and resolved. No deadlines have been set. As in any dialogue, everything depends on both sides, on their answers, on their efforts,” our interlocutor diplomatically noted, urging us to wait for the results of the dialogue.
In Russian diplomatic jargon, Russia’s permanent representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov noted in a conversation with VN, this dialogue is called “visa-free”, and in the EU working papers it is called “visa”, which in itself is significant. Within the European Union, he said, there are some differences between member countries. Those states whose economies are interested in the influx of Russian tourists are in favor of accelerating the movement toward visa-free travel. These are Spain, Italy, Greece and partly France. Ambassador Chizhov recalled how Russia and the EU moved towards simplifying the visa regime in 2007. It all started with bilateral agreements with France, Italy, Spain, which later became an incentive for the European Union as a whole.
The simplified regime has made it easier for representatives of the Russian political and business elite to travel to Europe. Holders of green diplomatic passports do not need a visa at all if they spend no more than 90 days in the EU within six months. According to a simplified procedure, multiple-entry visas are available to participants in business, cultural, scientific and educational exchanges, journalists, transport drivers, and close relatives of EU residents.
“We are pleased with how the agreement is working,” Ambassador Chizhov said in a conversation with VN. — At first there were some hiccups: the consular departments could not withstand the influx, they turned to intermediary firms, which made the services more expensive, and this was contrary to the agreement. There should always be the right to apply directly for a visa to the consulate. Truck drivers were asked for too many documents. But gradually everything returned to normal. It is easy for the categories of citizens specified in the agreement to obtain a visa. Annual is no longer uncommon, and there are more and more five-year “multiple” ones. Of course, “long-term” visas are not issued immediately; they must be earned.”
“The visa regime with Russia is an anachronism and will be canceled in a maximum of eight years,” Romano Prodi told the author of these lines in the fall of 1999 at a reception in Brussels shortly after receiving a five-year mandate as chairman of the European Commission. Since then, the visa problem has been raised at every opportunity, but this is done mainly by the Russian side. At any high-level Russia-EU meeting, no matter what it is dedicated to, journalists arriving from Russia always ask about visas.
Europeans do not say “no”, they are “for” with both hands. And any statement by a European minister or deputy about his desire to cancel visas for Russians becomes a sensation in the Russian media. They reassure the vacationer who is packing his suitcases, without conveying to him the continuation of the speech: “Not now, but as soon as possible.”
EU citizens can travel without visas almost all over the world: to the USA and Canada, Japan and Costa Rica, Australia and South Africa... To places of mass recreation and tourism - even without a passport and not always on the basis of reciprocity. A Tunisian, Moroccan, Egyptian, Turk or Ukrainian will not enter the EU without a visa, but EU citizens enter these countries without visas. Some countries act for reasons of economic pragmatism - when last year the author of VN flew to the Republic of Chad with five European colleagues, everyone received a visa under the same conditions, paying 100 euros. A number of countries require a visa from EU citizens - China, Vietnam, North Korea, Venezuela, Russia. At the same time, Russia is ready to cancel visas even today, but on condition of reciprocity.
“We are working, nothing is done instantly,” Ambassador Chizhov told VN about the visa-free dialogue with the EU. — A lot needs to be done within the country. If we come to a visa-free regime, then only with biometric passports, which are already issued in Russia. Pretty soon, even with a visa, it will be possible to enter the EU only with a biometric passport. Our citizens need to keep this in mind and, perhaps, not save at the expense of a passport.” The Russian passport form fully complies with world standards of reliability. But the EU has questions about the reliability not so much of the international passport itself, but of the source documents on the basis of which it is issued. In other words, we are talking about corruption.
“There is political will on the part of EU governments, but there is also an understandable concern for security, a desire to protect against abuses, illegal immigration, and organized crime. - Mr. Chizhov noted. - But all this can be somehow regulated, which is what negotiations are going on. We say that seasoned criminals will still find a way to overcome visa and border barriers. Now Unlike the early 1990s, it’s funny to talk about a massive influx of Russians into the EU who will stay here illegally.”
As the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who chairs the EU Council, once noted, immigration from Russia will be limited to owners of expensive villas on the Mediterranean Sea. When the EU created the external border security agency Frontex in 2004, by inertia it was oriented towards the east. Therefore, the agency's headquarters is in Warsaw, and its chief is Finnish. But in reality, he has to deal with the southern direction: Malta, Italian Lampedusa, Spanish Canaries, where the main flow of illegal migration comes from. “We understand them, because we are concerned about a similar problem,” noted Ambassador Chizhov.
Program director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs Arkady Moshes and his colleague Minna-Mari Salminen brought to Brussels last year a study on the prospects for a visa-free EU-Russia regime, based on an analysis of surveys in the government structures and border services of Russia, Finland, Estonia, Poland, and Germany , Italy, as well as statistical data. In a conversation with VN, Mr. Moshes noted that the reluctance of Europeans to speed up the transition to a visa-free regime is based on “speculative assumptions.” According to the expert, “there are opinions that the visa-free regime is more profitable for Russians than for Europeans, that with the abolition of visas, a mass of Russians will rush to Europe and the EU border services will not be able to cope with the flow, while people will pour in from the unstable Caucasus, as well as from Central Asia, with which Russia has no clear borders. It is difficult to verify how correct these statements are, but they influence the general mood. The visa-free idea does not yet have public support, citizens do not put pressure on deputies and governments, and they have no reason to move. Trips to Russia do not play a significant role in the lives of Europeans. It doesn’t bother them so much that they are not allowed into Russia without a visa.”
When last year the Americans, having confirmed the right of EU citizens to visa-free travel to the United States, did not include some new members of the union in the list, the European Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament fiercely stood up for the Czech Republic. The right to visa-free travel to Russia does not cause such excitement. “Of course, significantly more Russian citizens seek to come on vacation to Europe than EU citizens to Russia,” admitted Ambassador Chizhov.