Serbia May Cancel Visa-free Travel With Russia

• 1.06.2026, 9:32

To join the EU.

Serbian authorities are discussing the abolition of visa-free regime with Russia in order to join the European Union, said the head of the Serbian parliament's committee on Diaspora and Serbian regional issues Dragan Stanojevic.

"There are statements to do all this by the end of 2026. But as far as I know, all this should be accomplished six months before EU accession," Stanojevic said in an interview with "Izvestia". At the same time, in his opinion, Belgrade is still far from joining the EU, and premature abolition of the visa-free regime could hit the country's economy.

Serbia applied for EU membership in 2009 and received candidate status in 2012. Bilateral visa-free regime between Russia and Serbia was introduced in July 2009. It allows citizens to stay freely in the countries without visas for up to 30 days. Prior to that, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said that by the end of 2026 Belgrade would synchronize its visa policy with the European one. Back in 2023, the authorities canceled visa-free regime with Cuba and stopped flights to this country. Then visas were introduced for residents of Qatar, Kuwait, Mongolia and Oman.

The EU also increased pressure on Serbia and demanded to reduce the number of residence permits and citizenships issued to Russians.