European Commission says growing number of Russians with Serbian citizenship poses potential security risk to EU

Share the news

Although citizenship policy is Serbia's competence, the growing number of Russian citizens who, by acquiring Serbian citizenship, gain visa-free entry to the European Union (EU), poses a potential security challenge for the bloc, the European Commission (EC) assessed.

The latest European Commission document, which assesses Serbia's progress in chapters 23 and 24 related to the rule of law, states that the number of citizenships granted to Russian citizens has increased in recent times.

"Despite Serbia's sovereign right to decide on its citizenship and naturalization policies, the accelerated acquisition of visa-free travel to the EU by Russian citizens through the granting of Serbian citizenship, the number of whom has increased compared to previous years, poses potential security risks for the EU," the EC informal document, which was seen by Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL), states.

This document was a subject of discussion at the level of diplomats of European Union member states at the end of May. "Serbia should improve the control of visa applications submitted by citizens of countries considered to be at risk in terms of irregular migration or security," it further states.

Recently, several European Union member states have been pressuring the European Commission to propose a law that would ease the refusal of tourist visas for Russian citizens, due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. According to EU data, the number of tourist visas issued to Russian citizens in the Schengen area increased to almost 480.000 in 2025, the highest level since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has already announced that Serbia will not introduce visas for Russian citizens. Under the terms of the Growth Plan, Serbia must introduce visas for at least three countries by the end of the year. Serbia's visa policy is "only partially harmonized" with the European Union's visa policy and with the list of third countries whose citizens need a visa to enter the EU, the rule of law report for Serbia says.

Currently, 12 so-called third countries enjoy visa-free travel with Serbia, but not with the EU: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, China, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Suriname, and Turkey.

This document was the subject of discussion at the level of diplomats of the European Union member states at the end of May. "Serbia should improve the control of visa applications submitted by citizens of countries considered to be at risk in terms of irregular migration or security," it further states. Recently, several European Union member states have been putting pressure on the European Commission to propose a law that would ease the refusal of tourist visas for Russian citizens, due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

According to EU data, the number of tourist visas issued to Russian citizens in the Schengen area increased to almost 480.000 in 2025, the highest level since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has already announced that Serbia will not impose visas on Russian citizens. Under the terms of the Growth Plan, Serbia must impose visas for at least three countries by the end of the year.

Serbia's visa policy is "only partially harmonized" with the European Union's visa policy and with the list of third countries whose citizens need a visa to enter the EU, the rule of law report for Serbia states.

"No further progress has been achieved in harmonization with the EU visa policy since December 2024, when Serbia fulfilled its obligations from the Reform Agenda to harmonize the visa regime with the EU for at least three countries whose citizens require a visa to enter the EU," the document states.

With the Reform Agenda, Serbia has committed to introducing a visa regime for at least three of the mentioned countries. The value of this obligation within the framework of the Growth Plan is slightly more than 27 million euros. Failure to fulfill this obligation by the end of 2026 would result in the loss of this amount of financial resources.

In its Reform Agenda for Growth Plan, Serbia had foreseen the implementation of this obligation by the end of December 2024. However, the European Commission has approved an additional period, the so-called "grace period", for all countries in the region. For obligations that had to be fulfilled by the end of 2024, the deadline has been extended by 24 months, i.e. until December 2026.

Meanwhile, before eventually imposing visas for at least three countries, the European Commission is asking Serbia to tighten the rules for issuing visas for citizens of countries that still have a visa-free regime with Serbia, but not with the EU.

The Commission considers that this would ensure greater control and better harmonisation with EU standards, as well as reduce the flow of irregular migrants to the European Union from third-country nationals entering Serbia with valid visas./REL