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European Parliament approves mandate for negotiations with Council on non-recognition of Russian passports for travel to EU for residents of occupied territories of Ukraine and Georgia
BRUSSELS. Oct 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Parliament has agreed to negotiate with the European Council on a legislative proposal not to recognize Russian travel documents issued to residents of the territories occupied in Ukraine and Georgia, either for issuing visas or for crossing the external borders of the EU.
The European Parliament approved the relevant mandate by 540 votes in favor, six against and 36 abstentions on Thursday at a plenary session in Strasbourg, the press service of the EP reports.
“MEPs note that the Russian annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia in Ukraine is illegal, and that the EU has condemned Russia’s decision to recognise the independence of the so-called breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia. Therefore, EU member states and EEA allies should no longer accept travel documents issued by Russia in these regions,” the message reads.
According to the proposal, the Commission should consult EU member states and draw up a list of Russian travel documents that should not be accepted going forward, say MEPs. Parliament and Council will now negotiate on the final form of the act. Once adopted by both institutions and published in the Official Journal of the EU, it will enter into force on the day after its publication.
As previously reported, on October 12, the European Council agreed on a negotiating mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament on the non-acceptance of Russian travel documents issued to residents of the territories occupied in Ukraine and Georgia.