Qatar Addresses False News and Says Its Citizens Are Still Required to Apply for a Schengen Visa to Visit EU
Old news regarding the exemption of Qatari citizens from the requirement to apply for a Schengen visa was shared over the last couple of weeks and this pushed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar to come out with an official statement, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Dr Majed Mohammad Hassan Abdullah Al-Ansari said through an official Twitter statement that reports on the Schengen visa exemption are groundless.
At the same time, the spokesperson advised everyone not to believe such false news and indicated that once there are developments on the matter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar will make sure to share it with its citizens.
“An old piece of news published a few weeks ago about the exemption of Qatari citizens from the Schengen visa is currently being circulated as a new development in the file, and this matter is unfounded. We would like to point out that developments regarding this file and the sponsorship of citizens’ affairs abroad are issued through the official accounts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its website,” the statement of Majed Al Ansari reads.
The Peninsula explains that the last update on the visa exemption for Qatari citizens was made in December 2022, when the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs approved the proposal.
The same highlighted that even though the proposal was approved, this does not mean that Qatari citizens now get to travel visa-free to the EU as several other matters need to be taken care of before that happens.
The Commission of the European Union proposed back on April 2022 the lifting of the visa requirement for nationals of Qatar. Back then, the Commission said that Qatar has already met all the necessary criteria and suggested that its citizens should be permitted to travel to the EU without having to apply for a visa.
Nonetheless, such plans were put on hold on December 2022, following a corruption scandal revolving around Qatar as well as four Members of the Parliament.