MOSCOW, July 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russia believes the EU has no legal grounds to unilaterally review conditions for issuing Schengen visas to Russian nationals, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.
On June 25, the European Union adopted a new visa code which will make the visa application process longer and increase visa costs to 60 euros ($83). However, under a 2007 Russia-EU agreement, the Schengen visa price for Russian tourists was set at 35 euros ($49).
"With a valid international agreement regulating visa cooperation aspects between Russia and the European community, we see no legal grounds for Europe to review unilaterally the conditions for issuing Schengen visas to Russian citizens following the introduction of the new visa code," Andrei Nesterenko said.
The visa facilitation agreement between Russia and the EU came into force on June 1, 2007. It offered a number of favorable conditions to Russian travelers to Europe. According to the European Commission, these include waiving fees for a broader range of categories, simplification of the package of required documents and 10 days instead of 15 days for processing applications.
However, in a press release on July 1 the European Commission said that "the EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement that entered into force on 1 June, 2007, continues to apply offering more favorable conditions to Russian citizens travelling to the EU compared to other third countries nationals, including a fixed visa fee of 35 euro."
The new visa code will enter force in early 2010.
