The European Union won't recognize Russian passports issued in occupied regions of Georgia and Ukraine

EU won’t recognize Russian passports

540 MEPs have supported an initiative of the Council of Europe according to which the EU won’t recognize Russian passports issued in the occupied regions of Ukraine and Georgia.

Thus the passports are no longer considered valid for obtaining a visa or other documents required to cross a Schengen border.

The annexations of Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye in Ukraine are illegal, MEPs explain. They further recall that the EU has condemned Moscow’s decision to recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed regions of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“Members of the European Union and the EEA (European Economic Area) should no longer accept travel documents issued by Russia in these regions. The European Commission should consult with EU member states and draw up a list of Russian travel documents that should not be accepted in the future,” the MEPs said in a statement.

On the other hand, everyone has the right to flee the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and enter the EU to receive humanitarian support, the MEPs noted. Accordingly, the European Commission will have the right to add new regions to the list of occupied territories or remove them through relevant acts.

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On October 13, the European Council agreed on non-recognition of foreign passports and other 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 Russia’s recognition of the independence of the occupied territories of Georgia in 2008.

The European Council notes that Russian travel documents issued to residents of the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine and Georgia are illegal.

After the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, the Russian Federation began distributing Russian passports to the local population. Russia has continued this practice in its controlled Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to the European Council, the systematic issuance of Russian passports in the occupied regions is a violation of international law and the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

EU won’t recognize Russian passports