On the eve of its 20th anniversary, TURIZM.RU continues its column, in which it recalls events of past years from the world of travel. Today, our excursion is dedicated to another date - December 6, 2000.
On this day, Türkiye introduced new rules for foreigners to stay in the country. They were called upon to strengthen the fight against violators of the passport and visa regime. According to the innovations, every tourist who independently arrived in Turkey from Europe must provide customs with guarantees that he can spend at least 50 dollars daily on his upkeep. For representatives of the African continent, the "daily allowance" turned out to be twice as much. When asked about the reason for the difference in the requirements imposed on foreigners, local authorities gave a very ambiguous answer: "Africans come from far away!" Over 11 months of 2000, 6,500 foreigners were expelled from Turkey for violating the rules of stay. A significant number of them were representatives of the oldest profession" arriving to earn money on the shores of the Bosphorus from the countries of the former Eastern Bloc. In addition, several hundred citizens of Russia, Moldova, Ukraine and Romania, who did not have money for accommodation with them, were reportedly not allowed into Turkey several days ago. At the moment, Russian tourists arriving in Turkey do not provide guarantees of having money.
On December 6, 2000, news reports appeared about a new procedure that the United Arab Emirates authorities were planning to introduce for citizens entering the country. A new regulation was soon to appear, requiring travel companies to make large deposits that would guarantee the departure of visitors after the visa expired. The new document also recommended that companies issuing tourist visas hold foreigners' passports as collateral or collect money from them.
On the same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland must join the Schengen Agreement as of March 25, 2001, with corresponding changes to visa regulations and consular fees. Commenting on the EU's decision to expand the Schengen zone, the Foreign Ministry noted that the Scandinavian countries will apply visa regulations in full, including to Russian citizens. Meanwhile, along with a single list of countries with which a visa regime has been established, there will also be a single list of "undesirable" persons. Visas issued by consular offices of the Nordic countries will be valid for entry into all other Schengen states.
This was the day of December 6, 2000. Read about other events from 18 years ago in our daily selection.
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Source: news.turizm.ru
