Kosovo establishes a visa regime for Russian citizens

All Russian citizens, including those with diplomatic passports, who want to enter, transit or stay in Kosovo, must be provided with a visa.

This decision was taken at the meeting of the Government of Kosovo, held on September 30.

"All citizens of the Russian Federation, holders of regular, official and diplomatic passports, as well as those who have a valid biometric residence permit, issued by the countries of the Schengen area, will be required to obtain a visa of the Republic of Kosovo for transit entry and stay in the territory of Kosovo", said the Prime Minister, Albin Kurti.

Previously, Russian citizens with diplomatic and official passports were allowed to enter, transit and stay up to 15 days in the territory of the Republic of Kosovo, without a visa.

Also, the citizens of the countries for which Kosovo applies a visa regime, but who had a valid biometric residence permit issued by one of the countries of the Schengen Area, were also exempted from the need to obtain a Kosovar visa.

This was regulated in the Government's decision on entry conditions and visa regime for foreigners in the Republic of Kosovo, taken in 2011.

"This decision is in relation to the international obligations of the Republic of Kosovo and in coherence with the recent decision of the European Union to suspend the Schengen visa facilitation agreement for Russian citizens and the continuation of restrictive and punitive measures against the Russian Federation, due to aggression military against Ukraine", said the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Liza Gashi.

On August 31, the European Union suspended the visa agreement with Russia as a "necessary first step".

As a result, Russians will find it more difficult to secure a visa and the process will be more expensive.

EU countries have failed to agree on a total ban on tourist visas for Russians, as member states are divided on the issue.

Kiev has called on the EU to stop issuing visas to all Russians except political dissidents. REL