Visa-free to Russia from June 10

I live in Melbourne and am planning on going to Russia in summer. I would go to Russia before I'd go to any other EU country apart from maybe Czech Rep. Russia has everything from great women, vodka,SAMBO and bears.

FINALY!

there grows together what belongs together !

Serbia took this much more seriously than Russia - Russian citizens can travel to Serbia visa-free since over a year officially and since ever unofficially.

I am surprised, it took Russia THAT long to implement, what was agreed on so many times.

I really despise that regime which takes so little care about their friends and treats their diaspora (i.e. us) like dogs. Shame, shame, shame. But it's nothing new, that was always the case since 1917.

The most interesting "feature" of Russian consulates can be described as "самоуправство" (difficult to translate to English, basically it means, the consuls are free to implement OWN policies, having only very vague guidelines). And all that means, the unofficial policy seem to be: people from foreign countries as well as Russian diaspora is ACTIVELY DISCOURAGED to visit Russia.

This clearly shows, who the Russian fat cats in plush chairs really are - and here no negative word can be spared.

Want me to speak better about Russia? Easy. Change this goddamn policy ASAP and some other "little" things.

Nice to see a lot of jealous comments... the closer Serbia is to Russia the better!

Well look at the bright side. At least now Serbs can go back to Russia without a VIZA!!!!

@ Luigi

Ma bravo,Luigi! Happy to see you commenting again when Serbia/Russia relations in question. I missed your comments so much when Italy signed the famous South Stream agreement with Russia.

To do what exactly? Russia is a hellhole.
(Scott O'Grady, 28 May 2009 16:46)

Scott, this is my long nose and I am Cyrano. It's a double-standard: but only us, Serbs, Bulgarians, maybe Poles or people from ex-USSR are allowed to criticize the size of the nose. Sorry, that privilege has to be earned!

--Well look at the bright side. At least now Serbs can go back to Russia without a VIZA!!!!

To do what exactly? Russia is a hellhole. I can't believe Russians excluded their cousins for this long. Why didn't Serbs criticize them but criticized EU?

So if i have read well..it's a joke !!

"Diplomatic and special passport holders will be able to stay in the other country for up to 90 days without a visa.

All other forms of travel between the two countries, including for business and education, will require a visa, the Itar-Tass agency reports."

There seems to be a lot less here than the title suggests.

People can say what they want, but Russia is a major international player and can help pull us up. All these things with Russia will however go away if Serbia joins the EU, so it's weird that they are being implemented.

Ratko,

How do you explain the fact that all of Serbia's neighbours are either EU and NATO members or want to join these organizations?

The only country that has a close relationship with Russia is Belarus.

Do you want Serbia to be like Belarus?

Serbia should forget about Russia and concentrate on joining the EU.

mircea

Serbia can be in EU and have a close (the closest possible) relationship with Russia.

Ratko, if Serbia is in the EU then the relation with Russia can not be as close as possible. They said that if we join the EU, the trade agreement between us and them will be terminated. This is just one example how the thought that we can do both is a fantasy. A total fantasy.


Mircea, you treat Belarus as if it is something bad. People there do not live too bad. Their country is doing great, and their economy is booming, even now when there is this financial crisis. Life here is better than in Serbia and many other Eastern European nations. Are they a bad model then? Of course not. I would prefer Belarus over today's Serbia or Bulgaria or Latvia. Life there is simply better. Stability is better. We do not see an outpour of migration into the EU like we saw with Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and others. As the saying goes, think outside the box.

Most Serbs and Russians cannot financially afford to travel to each others respective countries.
(Michael John, 29 May 2009 01:44)

New railway tariff would be in place? I am not aware of that. But I know for sure, a round-trip ticket to Manzhouli on Russian-Chinese border is 220 Euro at Belgrade train station, sold in Wasteels office.

Fortunately, most Serbs can afford to travel even to Chinese border on Transsib - not even to Moscow. Such round-trip tickets do cost even less in Slovakia, 172 Euro.

A sample to Chita, near Chinese border:

http://tinyurl.com/kq8vyu

As mentioned before: critics are welcome. But 99.99% of the critics done by "outsiders" (who the "insiders" are - see the earlier list) is simply incorrect or based on urban legends.

This is why I did mention Cyrano and your posting was a good sample of a urban legend.

Of course, if you live in USA such tickets will be sold to you for thousands of USD by some European Rail Agencies. It's your fault, if you buy them in USA, not Slovakia, Serbia or Russia. If the problem is the language barrier: again, we don't have it here and these agencies are set to serve us primarily, not American tourists - even if the later are welcome to buy. Just don't expect a Belgrade-Vladivostok 220 Euro Transsib ticket be delivered to some rural Alabama.

But if it's not Alabama, but some other "AL" - than it's your fault, too. Better to say, the fault of HSH (Hekurudha Shqiptarë), they should pay the yearly fees and would be able to issue similar tickets as they used to. But since they don't have money to pay to stay as active member of OSJD.... sorry, no offense, but no tickets sold in "Alabamia" either.

Most Serbs and Russians cannot financially afford to travel to each others respective countries.
In any event, it is a bit riiculous for a Serb to need a visa to travel to Russia. It's similar to making an Eskimo require a visa in order to visit the North Pole.

If Serbia wishes to enter the Schengen white list, she will have to follow the Schengen policies. Basically, she will have to apply visas to Russian citizens (as ALL Schengen/EU countries do)...

I'm not sure if this arrangement somehow affects the asylum that Russia gave to Mira Markovic, the wife of late Milosevic, and their son Marko, considering that both are wanted by the Serbian prosecutors. So if two countries are now in official co-operation, how can than Russia protect people from Serbia who have criminal charges and are of huge public interest? Asylum seekers have grounds for claim when they are persecuted, not when they are summoned for the fair trial. Is Russia a fair 'cousin' to all Serbs, or just to certain 'famiglia'? I have no intention to travel there until this is resolved.

Lazar,

Belarus is controlled by a dictator and it is an isolated country.

You would prefer to live in Belarus? I find this very strange.

Lazar, not that I would agree with Mircea's ranting, but I don't know if you've been to BellaRussia or managed to see a bit behind the propaganda crust. Leaving aside the fact that just 2 yrs ago, McDonalds was considered one of the coolest places in Minsk, in times of crisis a controlled economy has very little space for manouvers to push itself up.
Some food for thought:
http://www.kyivpost.com/world/42360

Now back on the topic, it's a good thing this visa lifting, should have happened long time ago.

@Mircea

What matters to people is the quality of life, not wheter it is in the EU or not. Entering the EU did not produce ANY quality of life enhancements for Romania, growth was even bigger before (in 2004) at least.

QUality of life in Russia is probably better than in Romania, at least in some larger cities. If the Cenrral Asan Union would guarantee us respect for our values and greater living standards, why not join that? The EU is a trading block and regional alliance, not something you should worship (like u do, Mircea).

Well look at the bright side. At least now Serbs can go back to Russia without a VIZA!!!!

So if i have read well..it's a joke !!

Ratko,

How do you explain the fact that all of Serbia's neighbours are either EU and NATO members or want to join these organizations?

The only country that has a close relationship with Russia is Belarus.

Do you want Serbia to be like Belarus?

Serbia should forget about Russia and concentrate on joining the EU.

--Well look at the bright side. At least now Serbs can go back to Russia without a VIZA!!!!

To do what exactly? Russia is a hellhole. I can't believe Russians excluded their cousins for this long. Why didn't Serbs criticize them but criticized EU?

I live in Melbourne and am planning on going to Russia in summer. I would go to Russia before I'd go to any other EU country apart from maybe Czech Rep. Russia has everything from great women, vodka,SAMBO and bears.

FINALY!

there grows together what belongs together !

"Diplomatic and special passport holders will be able to stay in the other country for up to 90 days without a visa.

All other forms of travel between the two countries, including for business and education, will require a visa, the Itar-Tass agency reports."

There seems to be a lot less here than the title suggests.

If Serbia wishes to enter the Schengen white list, she will have to follow the Schengen policies. Basically, she will have to apply visas to Russian citizens (as ALL Schengen/EU countries do)...

Most Serbs and Russians cannot financially afford to travel to each others respective countries.
In any event, it is a bit riiculous for a Serb to need a visa to travel to Russia. It's similar to making an Eskimo require a visa in order to visit the North Pole.

Serbia took this much more seriously than Russia - Russian citizens can travel to Serbia visa-free since over a year officially and since ever unofficially.

I am surprised, it took Russia THAT long to implement, what was agreed on so many times.

I really despise that regime which takes so little care about their friends and treats their diaspora (i.e. us) like dogs. Shame, shame, shame. But it's nothing new, that was always the case since 1917.

The most interesting "feature" of Russian consulates can be described as "самоуправство" (difficult to translate to English, basically it means, the consuls are free to implement OWN policies, having only very vague guidelines). And all that means, the unofficial policy seem to be: people from foreign countries as well as Russian diaspora is ACTIVELY DISCOURAGED to visit Russia.

This clearly shows, who the Russian fat cats in plush chairs really are - and here no negative word can be spared.

Want me to speak better about Russia? Easy. Change this goddamn policy ASAP and some other "little" things.

Nice to see a lot of jealous comments... the closer Serbia is to Russia the better!

Ratko, if Serbia is in the EU then the relation with Russia can not be as close as possible. They said that if we join the EU, the trade agreement between us and them will be terminated. This is just one example how the thought that we can do both is a fantasy. A total fantasy.


Mircea, you treat Belarus as if it is something bad. People there do not live too bad. Their country is doing great, and their economy is booming, even now when there is this financial crisis. Life here is better than in Serbia and many other Eastern European nations. Are they a bad model then? Of course not. I would prefer Belarus over today's Serbia or Bulgaria or Latvia. Life there is simply better. Stability is better. We do not see an outpour of migration into the EU like we saw with Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and others. As the saying goes, think outside the box.

Lazar, not that I would agree with Mircea's ranting, but I don't know if you've been to BellaRussia or managed to see a bit behind the propaganda crust. Leaving aside the fact that just 2 yrs ago, McDonalds was considered one of the coolest places in Minsk, in times of crisis a controlled economy has very little space for manouvers to push itself up.
Some food for thought:
http://www.kyivpost.com/world/42360

Now back on the topic, it's a good thing this visa lifting, should have happened long time ago.

To do what exactly? Russia is a hellhole.
(Scott O'Grady, 28 May 2009 16:46)

Scott, this is my long nose and I am Cyrano. It's a double-standard: but only us, Serbs, Bulgarians, maybe Poles or people from ex-USSR are allowed to criticize the size of the nose. Sorry, that privilege has to be earned!

I'm not sure if this arrangement somehow affects the asylum that Russia gave to Mira Markovic, the wife of late Milosevic, and their son Marko, considering that both are wanted by the Serbian prosecutors. So if two countries are now in official co-operation, how can than Russia protect people from Serbia who have criminal charges and are of huge public interest? Asylum seekers have grounds for claim when they are persecuted, not when they are summoned for the fair trial. Is Russia a fair 'cousin' to all Serbs, or just to certain 'famiglia'? I have no intention to travel there until this is resolved.

Lazar,

Belarus is controlled by a dictator and it is an isolated country.

You would prefer to live in Belarus? I find this very strange.

People can say what they want, but Russia is a major international player and can help pull us up. All these things with Russia will however go away if Serbia joins the EU, so it's weird that they are being implemented.

mircea

Serbia can be in EU and have a close (the closest possible) relationship with Russia.

@ Luigi

Ma bravo,Luigi! Happy to see you commenting again when Serbia/Russia relations in question. I missed your comments so much when Italy signed the famous South Stream agreement with Russia.

Most Serbs and Russians cannot financially afford to travel to each others respective countries.
(Michael John, 29 May 2009 01:44)

New railway tariff would be in place? I am not aware of that. But I know for sure, a round-trip ticket to Manzhouli on Russian-Chinese border is 220 Euro at Belgrade train station, sold in Wasteels office.

Fortunately, most Serbs can afford to travel even to Chinese border on Transsib - not even to Moscow. Such round-trip tickets do cost even less in Slovakia, 172 Euro.

A sample to Chita, near Chinese border:

http://tinyurl.com/kq8vyu

As mentioned before: critics are welcome. But 99.99% of the critics done by "outsiders" (who the "insiders" are - see the earlier list) is simply incorrect or based on urban legends.

This is why I did mention Cyrano and your posting was a good sample of a urban legend.

Of course, if you live in USA such tickets will be sold to you for thousands of USD by some European Rail Agencies. It's your fault, if you buy them in USA, not Slovakia, Serbia or Russia. If the problem is the language barrier: again, we don't have it here and these agencies are set to serve us primarily, not American tourists - even if the later are welcome to buy. Just don't expect a Belgrade-Vladivostok 220 Euro Transsib ticket be delivered to some rural Alabama.

But if it's not Alabama, but some other "AL" - than it's your fault, too. Better to say, the fault of HSH (Hekurudha Shqiptarë), they should pay the yearly fees and would be able to issue similar tickets as they used to. But since they don't have money to pay to stay as active member of OSJD.... sorry, no offense, but no tickets sold in "Alabamia" either.

@Mircea

What matters to people is the quality of life, not wheter it is in the EU or not. Entering the EU did not produce ANY quality of life enhancements for Romania, growth was even bigger before (in 2004) at least.

QUality of life in Russia is probably better than in Romania, at least in some larger cities. If the Cenrral Asan Union would guarantee us respect for our values and greater living standards, why not join that? The EU is a trading block and regional alliance, not something you should worship (like u do, Mircea).