More than half of the respondents in a recent poll believe that imposing broader restrictions on travel abroad will be a violation of Russian citizens’ rights to free movement. At the same time, nearly one third of the respondents think that it is rational to impose travel bans for certain professions.
The independent opinion-research institute Levada Center asked 1600 Russians about their opinion on travel restrictions. 49 percent are sure the authorities are going to impose new limitations on travel, while only 22 percent are certain this is not going to happen. 28 percent said it is right to impose travel restrictions on people with access to state secrets, military personnel and some other professions, while 55 percent says that limiting the freedom to move would be a violation of Russian citizens’ rights.
No return of iron curtain
President Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov calls the poll “absurd” and denies commenting on it, Rusnovosti reports. Member of the State Duma’s Committee for International Affairs Aleksandr Romanovich assures that Russia has no plans for bringing back the iron curtain. “The freedom to travel, the freedom to choose where you want to live and how you want to control your own destiny, are the basis for human liberties. Limitations on travel can only be connected to professional activity, for example if traveling abroad can harm state interests”, Romanovich said to Rusnovosti.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, all Russian citizens have the right to freely enter and exit the country in accordance with article 27 of the country’s Constitution. With increasing antagonism between Russian and the West in recent months more and more groups have been added to a list of those who are “strongly discouraged” or banned from traveling to some 150 countries. The list includes personnel from the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the Federal Prison Service and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, as BarentsObserver reported.
An estimated 5 percent of the total population is prohibited from leaving the country, Moscow Times reported.
In another poll by Levada Center in March 2014, only 17 percent of the respondents said they had an international passport. More than 70 percent said they had never been outside the borders of the former USSR.
The Federal Migration Service has issued more than 5.5 million new international passports in course of the first eight months of 2014, according to official statistics.
Price rise on international passports
Passports for travel abroad will become considerably more expensive from January 1 2015, Interfax reports. Biometric passports with a validity of ten years will go up 40 percent – from 2500 rubles to 3500 rubles (from €50 to €70), while passports without biometric information and a validity of five years will go up 50 percent – from 1000 to 1500 rubles (from €20 to €30).
Also passports for children under 14 years will become more expensive after New Year. Passports with ten years validity will go up from 1200 rubles to 1500 rubles, while the price of passports with five years validity will go up three times – from 300 to 1000 rubles (from €6 to €20).
