Back in February this year, Bern supported the European Union and restricted entry into its territory for Russian civil servants and businessmen.
Watson cites sources as saying that the European Union is forcing the Swiss authorities to introduce visa restrictions for Russians, namely to suspend the agreement on a simplified visa regime with Russia. Note that Switzerland is not part of the EU.
"Switzerland as an associate member of the Schengen area is focused on harmonization of visa policy in the Schengen countries," the State Secretariat for Migration said in a statement.
Back in February, Bern restricted entry for Russian officials and businessmen, now after the EU countries will be suspended issuance of Schengen visas.
This year Switzerland issued about seven thousand Schengen visas to Russian citizens.
Recall that on Friday September 9 the European Union approved the decision to suspend the simplified visa regime with Russia from September 12. Not only the visa cost will increase, but also the time of the request processing. Also additional documents will be required.