Greece Will Not Impose Changes To Visa Policy For Russians

Greece has no thoughts to change its visa policy regarding tourists from Russia, according to Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni. The tourism minister made the statement during a recent press conference when asked in regards to possible changes to the visa regime in the wake of developments in Ukraine.

Mrs. Kefalogianni said the Greek Tourism Ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the matter and that there will be no visa policy change.

“The Greek Presidency monitors and follows all the developments in the Ukraine and evaluates the recent developments and we hope that there will be a de-escalation,” she said.

Greece has managed to facilitate visa issuance procedures for Russian citizens (visas are obtained in 48 hours). The visa facilitation resulted to arrivals from Russia to Greece increasing by some 45 percent in 2013.