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Bulgaria tightens entry rules for Russian citizens

Photo: Archive

The Council of Ministers adopted a decision according to which holders of valid diplomatic and service passports from Russia will no longer be allowed to enter, exit, transit and temporarily stay in Bulgaria without a visa.

For holders of diplomatic passports, a visa regime was already introduced on 25 February 2022 with the adoption of Council Decision (EU) 2022/333. Today's decision also introduces a visa regime for holders of Russian service passports as of 20 October.

In doing so, the government is now aligning the legislation with the European Commission's decision to fully suspend the visa facilitation agreement between the European Union and Russia, which came into force on 12 September this year.



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