Turkish a call for reform of the Schengen area was adopted in PACE. This statement was published by the Turkish media. They stated that the General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) by a majority of votes adopted a draft law on the reform of the Schengen system. At the same time, it was the Turkish PACE group that presented to the assembly a report on the problems that Turkish citizens face when obtaining a Schengen visa, and proposed changing the system.
“Our proposals will make the process of obtaining a Schengen visa more transparent, fair and inclusive. And they were adopted by the PACE General Assembly. We are fully confident that with our reform proposals, the process will improve,” the Turkish official said.
Let us recall that scandals have repeatedly arisen in obtaining Schengen visas in Turkey. It came to statements that the EU “introduced” secret hidden sanctions” against Turkey, which caused a growing number of visa denials from the European Union to Turkish tourists. And not the last role in the emergence of these sanctions was played by Turkey's desire to maintain economic relations with Russia, including the stake on the reception of Russian tourists in Turkey.
Ordinary tourists who were left without a visa, however, believed that the reason was not the sanctions, but the financial interest of the EU consulates in the almost legal withdrawal of money from the population of Turkey. The mechanism is as follows: tourists applying for a Schengen visa are asked for a huge number of documents to complicate the procedure and increase the likelihood of any mistake in the documents, then tourists are forced to wait for weeks, and in the end most of the requests are denied. In this case, the money received during the application for a visa is not refundable. The income of diplomatic missions is significant: according to Turkish experts, since 2015, Turkish tourists have left more than 26 million euros in the consulates of European countries. At the same time, on average in Turkey, for applications for a Schengen visa, the fee is 120-125 euros, for the British one – from $130 to $1105, and for a US visa about $200. Read the details at this link.
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