Visas

The Schengen visa-related problems of Turkish citizens, which has turned into an ordeal recently, are on Oct. 11's agenda of the General Assembly of The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

Deputy Prime Minister for Public Order and Security and Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demerdzhiev took part in a meeting dedicated to the enlargement of Schengen in Prague at the initiative of the Czech Presidency.

The Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union has invited the Ministers of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania to Prague on September 13 to discuss the accession of the three Balkan countries to the Schengen Area, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported citing Romanian MP Rares Bogdan.

European Union countries agreed Wednesday to make it harder for Russian citizens to enter the 27-nation bloc, but they failed to find a consensus on imposing an outright tourist ban in response to Russia's war on Ukraine.

The Kremlin has warned it will react if the European Union makes it harder for Russians to travel to the bloc as part of measures to support Ukraine. The idea of ​​banning Russian tourists in Europe has divided the EU countries, with some of them fully supporting it, and others fearing that it will close the door to Russian dissidents fleeing abroad.

Obrežje – Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar stressed as she met her Croatian counterpart Davor Božinović in Obrežje, east, on Monday that Slovenia absolutely supports Croatia’s entry into the Schengen zone. Božinović said this is in both countries’s interest, which Bobnar confirmed.

Many Turkish students are not able to continue their education due to Schengen visa problems such as facing an increased scrutiny of visa applications and waiting for months to get an appointment date.

With the waiting period for a visa, which is normally three weeks, increased up to five months, many young people who wanted to study abroad had to cancel their education plans.

Citizens of Turkey and Kosovo are still spending time and money applying for visas to enter Europe's Schengen zone. Kosovars see light at the end of the tunnel, but a growing proportion of Turkish applications are being rejected.

Finland will reduce the number of visas issued to Russians to 10% of the current level, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday.

Russian citizens who have a Schengen visa issued by the Estonian republic will not be allowed to enter the territory of Estonia, announced the Republic's Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu.