Bulgaria continues to issue tourist visas to Russians, while the terms for the provision of services have increased for technical reasons. This was reported to TASS at the Bulgarian Embassy in Moscow.
“The consulate at the embassy is working, and the issuance of tourist visas to Russian citizens has not stopped. At the moment, due to technical reasons, we are working in an unusual mode, the terms for providing services are longer than usual, but we are working.”
According to the interlocutor, the issuance of visas for property owners from Russia was also not suspended.
The fact that Bulgaria stops issuing tourist visas to Russians was reported on August 5 by the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). The reason for the decision was the expulsion from Russia of 14 Bulgarian diplomats, which was announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Before that, Latvia suspended the issuance of all visas for Russians for an indefinite period. Estonia has stopped issuing temporary residence permits and visas for studying to Russian citizens. In addition, the country's government has amended the already imposed sanctions, according to which citizens of Russia and Belarus will be able to register short-term work in Estonia only if they have an Estonian visa.
The European Commission (EC) emphasized that it is impossible to ban the issuance of tourist visas to all Russians: this is not allowed by the visa rules of the European Union. It should always be possible to grant visas to certain groups: family members of EU citizens, journalists and dissidents.