Russia and Israel Hospitable to Tourists
Israel and Russia have reached an agreement canceling visa requirements for each other's tourists. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the text of the agreement has been conciliated. Now legislation has to be passed in both countries for it to take effect. The agreement may be signed during Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's visit to Moscow in January.
Under the agreement, citizens of the two countries will be able to spend no more than 90 days out of every 180 as tourists in the host country. The Israeli government announced its intention to cancel visa requirements for Russian citizens in August of this year, but it doubted that Russia would be willing to take the analogous step. Russia sent Israel a note of principle agreement at the beginning of the autumn, however, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Livni signed an declaration of intent after meeting at the UN.
In Israel, ratifying the agreement has been called a formality. In Russia, it must be conciliated among several government agencies (the Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry and others), which could take considerable time, especially with the long January holidays about to begin. Therefore, hopes of signing the agreement during Livni's visit may be unrealistically optimistic. In Israel, the move was supported by the Our Home Is Israel Party and the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 20, 2007
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