Brussels: The Russian Permanent Mission to the European Union criticized the EU's decision to restrict visa issuance to Russians, describing it as "discriminatory."
According to Qatar News Agency, the Mission stated that the decision by the European Commission, supported by all EU member states in the Visa Committee, "is discriminatory in its essence". The statement highlighted that this decision contradicts previous EU statements which assured that the restrictions would not impact ordinary citizens.
The Mission expressed its astonishment at the attempts to justify these measures with accusations against Russia and its citizens concerning alleged involvement in sabotage, disinformation, drone incursions into the EU, or potential misuse of visas for propaganda purposes.
The European Commission recently decided to ban the issuance of multiple-entry visas to Russian citizens, except in specific exceptional cases. In response, Moscow announced that it would take measures against this decision.