European Union countries have made travel rules stricter for visitors coming to Europe without a visa. They’ve agreed on new criteria that allow the EU to stop visa-free travel for countries whose citizens don’t need a visa to enter the Schengen area.
This change is meant to help the EU handle situations where visa-free travel is being misused or goes against EU goals.
The new criteria for suspending visa-free travel include:
- When a non-EU country doesn’t follow EU visa rules, leading to a lot more people coming to the EU, especially if the country is close by.
- Offering citizenship through investment programs without a real connection to the country, in exchange for money or investments.
- Dealing with security threats or problems with document security laws.
EU member countries can now decide to stop visa-free travel from a specific country if their relationship with that country worsens significantly, especially concerning human rights and basic freedoms.
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