Switzerland has announced that residents of the occupied territories of Georgia and Ukraine will not be able to obtain a Schengen visa or cross the borders of the Schengen area with travel documents issued by the Russian authorities. SchengenVisaInfo.com reports on this.

The decision of the Swiss Federal Council on August 16 states that passports, ID cards, and permits issued by the Russian authorities to Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region residents after August 26, 2008, will not be recognized for Schengen visa issuance.

"Russia announced in August 2008 that it officially recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. Very few countries have done the same. "Switzerland considers these regions as an integral part of Georgia," the Federal Council noted.

Switzerland also clarified that despite the restrictions introduced, it will still issue visas in exceptional cases, such as humanitarian visas, to persons from the occupied regions of Ukraine and Georgia.

This follows the decision by the Council of the European Union from December 2022, when the body decided not to accept passports and other travel documents issued by Russia in the occupied regions of Ukraine and Georgia. According to the decision, "travel documents of the Russian Federation (Russian travel documents)" issued in the annexed Crimea and the occupied regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as "in the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia of Georgia, which are not under the control of the Georgian authorities," are not recognized, "or It is in the process of non-recognition by member states, as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.

On October 12, 2002, the European Council agreed on the non-recognition of international passports and travel documents issued by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine and Georgia. According to the Council, this decision is the EU's response to Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine and the declaration of independence of the occupied territories of Georgia in 2008. Russian passports are no longer considered valid documents for obtaining a visa or other necessary documents for border crossing in the Schengen area.

On October 22, 2022, 540 European Parliament members supported the European Council's initiative, according to which the European Union does not recognize travel documents issued by Russia in the occupied regions of Ukraine and Georgia.