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The Association of Tour Operators in Russia (ATOR) says it is feeling the impact of the European Commission’s stricter visa processing conditions for Russian citizens, as nine European countries now “no longer accept documents from tourists.”
Last Friday, the European Union (EU) made the decision to suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Russia, making it harder for Russians to travel in Europe.
“The visa facilitation agreement with the Russian Federation has been suspended. This means that Russian citizens will receive Schengen visas under the general conditions of the EU Visa Code,” ATOR wrote on their website Tuesday.
ATOR describes itself as the largest association of tour operators in Russia.
According to tour operators, the list of EU countries that have so far issued and continue to accept documents for visas for tourist trips include Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Hungary and Cyprus. Notably, the visas being granted are national visa — not Schengen, which allows a tourist access to other European countries too.
“Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands no longer accept documents from tourists,” it claimed.
In response, the European Commission referred CNN to their visa guidelines, which were posted online last Friday. The guidelines outlined how short-stay visa applications lodged by Russian citizens should now be processed.
European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said last Friday that “being a tourist in the EU is not a fundamental right.”
“Member States are advised to check thoroughly and with a great level of scrutiny visa applications from Russian citizens. Visas should be refused where consulates identify security risks,” she continued.
“The EU will remain open to those who need to be protected, like journalists, dissidents, human rights activists, and people traveling for family reasons,” Johansson said.
According to the guidelines consulates are able to “adapt their procedures” and are allowed to “take up 45 days” on deciding Russian tourist visa applications, as opposed to the “15 days in regular cases.”
“Member States should refrain from issuing multiple-entry visas with long validity, as Russian citizens may not meet the conditions for entering the EU in the long run, given the economic instability, the restrictive measures and political developments in Russia,” the new guidelines add.
At the start of September The Czech Republic, and Latvia already started to take measures to restrict Russian travel, while Estonia banned Russians who already had visas from entering the country.
CNN contacted the foreign affairs ministries of the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Denmark, and Belgium, and they have not responded yet to requests for comment.
Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-09-14-22/index.html
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and leaders from India and Central Asia gathered Thursday in Uzbekistan for a summit of a security group formed by Beijing and Moscow as a counterweight to U.S. influence.
The meeting Friday of the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization is overshadowed by Putin’s attack on Ukraine and strains in China’s relations with Washington, Europe, Japan and India due to disputes over technology, security and territory.
The event in the ancient sultanate of Samarkand is part of Xi’s first foreign trip since the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic 2 1/2 years ago, underscoring Beijing’s desire to assert itself as a regional power.
Putin and Xi were due to meet one-on-one and discuss Ukraine, according to the Russian president’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov.
Xi’s government, which said it had a “no limits” friendship with Moscow before the invasion, has refused to criticize the attack. Beijing and India are buying more Russian oil and gas, which helps Moscow offset the impact of Western sanctions.
China “states explicitly that it understands the reasons that forced Russia to launch a special military operation,” Ushakov said Thursday, according to the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass.
Putin planned to meet Friday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ITAR-Tass said, citing Ushakov.
There was no indication whether Modi might meet Xi. Chinese-Indian relations are strained due to clashes between soldiers from the two sides in a dispute over a border in a remote area of the Himalayas.
Other SCO governments include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
The meeting planned to consider an application by Iran, an observer of the group, to become a full member, according to ITAR-Tass.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which has the status of “dialogue partner,” was also in attendance.
Putin and Erdogan planned on Friday to “evaluate the effectiveness” of a deal under which wheat exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea resumed, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to ITAR-Tass.
The Chinese leader is promoting a “Global Security Initiative” announced in April following the formation of the Quad by Washington, Japan, Australia and India in response to Beijing’s more assertive foreign policy. Xi has given few details, but U.S. officials complain it echoes Russian arguments in support of Moscow’s attack on Ukraine.
The region is part of China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative to expand trade by building ports, railways and other infrastructure across an arc of dozens of countries from the South Pacific through Asia to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
On Thursday, Xi met with President Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan and said Beijing supports the “early operation” of a planned railway linking China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, the Chinese foreign ministry said.
China’s economic inroads into Central Asia have fueled unease in Russia, which sees the region as its sphere of influence.
Xi made a one-day visit Wednesday to Kazakhstan en route to Uzbekistan. Pope Francis was in Kazakhstan, but they didn’t meet.
Source Article from https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-japan-india-asia-dbe2a0bda954e06bb8fcb7cccbd39b21
The Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU presidency, have called for a “special international tribunal” after a mass grave was discovered in Izium, a town in north-eastern Ukraine. “In the 21st century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent,” said Jan Lipavský, foreign minister of the Czech Republic. More than 440 bodies have been discovered by Ukrainian officials, with some found with their hands tied behind their backs.
Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/18/russia-ukraine-war-latest-what-we-know-on-day-207-of-the-invasion
A Russian service member patrols the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in May.
Andrey Borodulin/AFP via Getty Images
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Andrey Borodulin/AFP via Getty Images
A Russian service member patrols the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in May.
Andrey Borodulin/AFP via Getty Images
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has restored some power, U.N. nuclear watchdog officials announced. It comes amid fears that total electricity loss would cause a nuclear accident.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called the restoration of power “a temporary relief in a still untenable situation.”
“A protection zone is needed now,” he wrote on Sunday.
The Ukrainian plant went offline Saturday morning after Russian shelling damaged the last remaining outside power source. Nuclear plants rely on electricity to run their safety and cooling equipment. Without it, a meltdown could occur.
This is one of several times that the plant has lost external power in recent weeks.
Ukrainian authorities have tried using the plant’s own reactor and backup generators to supply some power, but those measures are not considered sustainable.
Rescuers use a hose to extinguish a fire in a residential building damaged after a strike in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday.
Maryna Moiseyenko /AFP via Getty Images
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Rescuers use a hose to extinguish a fire in a residential building damaged after a strike in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday.
Maryna Moiseyenko /AFP via Getty Images
The six-reactor plant is the largest in Europe. It’s been captured and occupied by Russian forces since March, though some Ukrainian workers still operate the plant. The city is the capital of the Zaporizhzhia region, one of four Ukrainian territories that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month.
Efforts to prevent a radiation disaster have also been stymied by the fact that the city has repeatedly been a target of Russian blasts. That has left not only the plant vulnerable, but also local residents who rely on it for electricity.
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Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2022/10/09/1127750930/ukraine-russia-nuclear-plant-restored-temporary