Sweden has said that the country supports the EU Council’s proposal to suspend certain provisions of the Visa Code for nationals of Ethiopia and decrease the visa application fee for nationals of The Gambia.
Commenting on the proposal to tighten the visa rules for Ethiopians, the Ministry of Justice of Sweden said that such a measure is necessary to push Ethiopia to cooperate with the repatriation of its nationals.
Certain provisions of the Visa Code in relation to citizens of Ethiopia are to be temporarily suspended. The purpose of the proposal is to create incentives for Ethiopia to cooperate better when it comes to readmitting its own citizens.
The Swedish authorities explain that on the latest evaluation carried out by the Commission of the EU, it was found that Ethiopia is not cooperating sufficiently in the repatriations of its citizens whose asylum applications have been rejected.
Therefore, Sweden sees suspending some provisions of the Visa Code as a necessary measure.
As the Ministry explains, once some of the provisions are suspended, nationals of Ethiopia will no longer be exempted from the requirement to submit certain documents when applying for a Schengen visa.
Moreover, nationals of Ethiopia may have to wait more than 15 days to receive a decision on their application, and they may no longer be issued multiple entry visas.
In addition, as soon as certain provisions get suspended, Ethiopians holding diplomatic passports will no longer be exempt from the visa fee.
However, the substantive examination of a visa application is not affected by the proposal. Therefore, Ethiopian citizens will still be able to be granted a visa to enter the EU, but with the requirements and limitations.
As for The Gambia, Sweden has supported the proposal to no longer require citizens of the country to pay a higher fee.
The Commission of the EU proposed to revoke the increased visa application fee for nationals of The Gambia and apply a €80 fee instead following significant progress made in terms of repatriation.
According to the Ministry of Justice of Sweden, this proposal aims to streamline the repatriation process for the EU Member States and reduce the costs of nationals of The Gambia planning to apply for a Schengen visa to reach the bloc.
While the Council is yet to take a decision on the two matters, Sweden said that it supports the two proposals – the suspension of certain provisions of the Visa Code for nationals of Ethiopia and the application of a €80 visa fee rate for nationals of The Gambia.
