Residents of Crimea will not be able to obtain a Schengen visa with Russian-issued passports. This was announced on Saturday, August 8, by the EU Ambassador to Russia Markus Ederer.
“The European Union did not and does not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia. This means that Russian passports issued in Crimea by the Russian authorities after the annexation are not recognized or accepted when applying for a Schengen visa, “Interfax quotes him.
However, Ederer noted that the residents of Crimea still have the opportunity to obtain a Schengen visa. He stressed that for this, residents of the republic must apply for a visa at the consulates of the EU countries located in Ukraine, and not in Russia. Either a passport issued by the Russian authorities before the illegal annexation, or a Ukrainian passport, will also be valid.
“And by the way, if a resident of Crimea has a Ukrainian biometric passport, then he or she can enter the EU without a visa, since a visa-free regime has been in effect between the EU and Ukraine since 2017 for holders of biometric passports,” the ambassador added.
Crimea became part of Russia following a referendum in March 2014. 96.77% of the inhabitants of the peninsula and 95.6% of the voters of Sevastopol supported joining the Russian Federation. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that the procedure took place in strict accordance with international law, but Kiev does not recognize the results of the vote.