Russian citizens, who in the past years had the possibility to visit Italy from Montenegro without a visa, will no longer be able to do so from next year, reports the Italian newspaper La Republika in the local edition for Bari.
According to unofficial information, the authorities' decision to cancel the issuance of passes to Russian citizens traveling from Montenegro came after four Russian citizens used a one-day pass to stay illegally in the Schengen zone, without returning to Montenegro with the rest of the group after the usual visit to the Basilica of St. Nicholas.
The Republic states that until now Russians in Montenegro have been able to visit Bari without a visa, thanks to an agreement between "the Montenegrin consul in Bari and a Russian tour operator, which enabled the arrival of both Montenegrin and Russian citizens once a week, every Tuesday ".
Member of the Italian Parliament, member of the Democratic Party Dario Ginefra, believes that this decision "damages both the relations with Montenegro and the economic conditions of the city of Bari". He sent a request for an explanation of this decision to the Ministry of the Interior of Italy.
Ginefra believes that the decision of the border police to suspend the issuance of one-day passes does not make sense if it is really an isolated case of "a handful of Russians enchanted by Western life", compared to thousands of tourists who regularly returned to Montenegro. The result is "another, strong blow to the local economy," the text concludes.
It is estimated that around 8.000 Russians left Montenegro for Bari during the last two years. The Republic states that the contribution of these tourists to the local economy is not negligible, especially considering that a large number of Russian tourists stayed for shopping after visiting the Basilica of St. Nicholas.
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