Work is progressing in the EU Council on the proposal for an EU Council and European Parliament decision on the non-recognition of Russian travel documents issued in the occupied foreign regions (see EUROPE 13015/6), with a compromise proposal from the Czech Presidency submitted on Thursday 29 September.
The first proposal from Prague is to replace the term ‘non-recognition’ with non-’acceptance’ of documents issued by the Russian authorities to these territories.
“While all Russian travel documents issued in or to persons resident in occupied regions or territories of Ukraine or breakaway territories in Georgia should not be accepted as valid travel documents for the purposes of issuing a visa and crossing external borders”, the compromise adds, “Member States should be able to make a derogation for persons who were Russian citizens on the date on which the Russian documents started to be issued in the respective occupied region or territory or in a breakaway territory or to descendants of such persons”.
A new article also provides that, for reasons of legal certainty and transparency, “the Commission should draw up, by means of an implementing act, a list of not accepted Russian travel documents, per region or territory”.
The list to be drawn up by the Commission should include the dates from which these Russian travel documents started to be issued in these regions or territories and from which travel documents issued after these dates should not be accepted.
The compromise also specifies that this decision should not call into question the right to asylum and the right to apply for international protection. Link to the text: https://aeur.eu/f/3bn (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)