London blocks the renewal of the Russian diplomatic corps
LONDON, 8 Aug — RIA Novosti, Natalia Kopylova. The UK authorities since the beginning of the year, in fact, block the renewal of the composition of the Russian Embassy, tightening procedures for issuing visas, said the press Secretary of the Embassy in London.
According to him, Britain remains committed to a reduction of the presence of Russian diplomats in the United Kingdom, and the mass expulsion of the staff of the mission in March because of the case Skripal only exacerbated the difficult personnel situation in the Russian diplomatic missions in Britain.
As the instruments are still used visa restrictions, artificial long delays in issuing visas for new employees has already been decorated on long trips, extension of visas to Russian foreign employees for a period not exceeding three months with the retention of their passports.the representative of the Embassy
He recalled that Russia has repeatedly offered to discuss visa issues, to ensure the normal functioning of diplomatic missions, which was reflected in the Russian party initiated the draft of the updated bilateral Memorandum of understanding on the issuance of visas with clearly stipulated term of consideration of visa applications on both sides.
Unfortunately, the principle of reciprocity to the British side, apparently, exists only with the sign “minus”, — concluded the diplomat.
Earlier, the Russian Ambassador in London Alexander Yakovenko in an interview with TV channel “Russia 24” stated that the average time to issue British visas for Russian diplomats is a year and a half and it is not a normal situation.