Diplomat Katya Zhekova, who is an Attache at the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria, spoke about the decision of the official Sofia to resume tourism in the country, as well as the opportunity for Russians to visit the resorts of this state.
According to Zhekova, the Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria raised the issue of facilitating the visa regime with the Russian Federation. This happened at a recent meeting, which was attended by the heads of specialized tourism departments representing the countries of the European Union. Zhekova claims that this issue is currently under discussion. Meanwhile, Russian citizens are not prohibited from entering Bulgaria on Schengen visas.
At the same time, the official separately emphasized the fact that the Bulgarian consulate had suspended the procedure for issuing visas for travelers from Russia. The reason is the global pandemic of coronavirus infection, due to which many countries have closed their national borders and are only now gradually starting to return to normal life.
Zhekova explained that Bulgaria will resume issuing visas to Russians immediately after the relevant government order is received. Meanwhile, the Bulgarian side has initiated the process of preparing documents for tour operators from Russia. As soon as the tourist season opens, the issuance of documents for entry into the country will again be carried out as usual.
Bulgaria was one of the first countries to begin the gradual easing of quarantine restrictions caused by the coronavirus. The state, which ranks 78th in the world in terms of the number of infected citizens, decided to resume domestic tourist travel on May 13. It is expected that soon the country's authorities will issue a decree on the opening of borders for tourists from neighboring countries. The Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria reported that they expect to fully open the country's resorts from July 1, but they will work, provided that all precautions are taken.
