The European Parliament called the abolition of multivisa for Russians senseless and harmful to the EU.

The decision of the European Union (EU) to stop issuing Schengen visas to Russians for multiple trips is erroneous and economically harmful for the countries of the union. This was announced on November 15 by Luxembourg MEP Fernand Kartheiser after a meeting with Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, on the sidelines of the BRICS–Europe forum.

"The visa issue is worrying because, in fact, this restriction is directed against individual Russian citizens. Thus, in fact, we are targeting Russians who would like to spend their holidays in the European Union or go to the EU for another reason," TASS quoted him as saying.

Kartheiser recalled that until recently there were several million Russian tourists in the EU, and their loss is an economic loss for some EU states.

"This is once again damaging our own economy in the European Union, and this, in my opinion, is a senseless initiative," the MEP stressed.

According to him, Brussels hoped that the cancellation of the multivisa would cause dissatisfaction among Russians with their government, but "the reaction is that the people of Russia will show solidarity with their government in the circumstances and simply choose other tourist destinations." Kartheiser also expressed hope for political changes in Europe.

The window was closed: The European Commission banned issuing multiple-entry visas to Russians

The EU authorities have linked this measure to improving the security of the Schengen area.

On November 7, the European Commission (EC) announced a ban on issuing new multiple-entry visas to Russians. Now, to visit the EU, Russian citizens will have to apply to the visa application center every time. On the same day, it was reported that Switzerland would join the new EU visa restrictions on Russian citizens. Meanwhile, the French Embassy promised to continue issuing visas to Russians.

On November 10, the press service of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the EU said that the EU's decision to restrict the issuance of visas was discriminatory. It was noted that the EU's actions contradict earlier statements stating that the restrictions would not affect ordinary citizens.

On November 11, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Russia was preparing retaliatory measures against the European Union's ban on issuing multiple-entry visas to Russian citizens.

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