11/08/2019 16:46

Latvia opens air gates

[IMG=18617-4200] In the airport of Riga there are rooms where foreign tourists can receive the entry visa, says the information portal of Daugavpils. According to the published data, it was the Ministry of transport of Latvia that offered to introduce the simplified visa procedure from 2006 for those who arrive to the Republic by air transport. It is aimed at attracting tourists from the CIS countries and Russia, also in relation to the planned hockey world championship in May 2006. For diplomatic reasons, which are vital for relationships with Latvian visa services, almost all tour operators interviewed by a BANKO correspondent wished to stay incognito. In general, the market participants took the news skeptically motivating it by the fact that ‘the Latvians for the first time demonstrate good intentions simplifying the entrance which does not lead to anything’. Last year the Latvian side announced its plans to allow the Russians the entrance without invitations with the condition of submitting 5000 Euro on the security. Yet there is no practical mechanism of its realization. It is not the first time that the question of processing of visas on the border is raised. In the consulate of Latvia in Moscow a BANKO correspondent was told that this time plans have a real basis and are approved by the Ministry of Internal affairs of the country, and no later than in the spring of 2006 the final decision will be taken. A possible positive solution of the question, nevertheless, does not sound very exciting for operators either. ‘Even if the rule will come into force, no one guarantees that the visa will be issued in each concrete case’, - explains ‘Baltic-service’. – ‘Tourists will start receiving refusals when they arrive into the country and after they spent money on traveling… who needs such a headache?’ The main reason for such a blank reaction of tour operators is that the ‘simplified procedure’ concerns only air passengers while most tourists travel to Riga from Moscow by train.