DOHA – Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has clarified that no new development has been made in the exemption of Qatari citizens from the Schengen visa.
The ministry’s Spokesman said on Wednesday that the circulating information was based on previous developments, adding that no new development has been made on the issue.
“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,” the Twitter statement of Majed Mohammad Hassan Abdullah Al-Ansari read.
“We would like to point out that developments regarding this issue and any update regarding sponsorship of citizens’ affairs abroad are issued through the official accounts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its website,” he added.
The confusion erupted after a previous development made rounds across the internet being branded as a latest update. The last update on Qatari citizen’ exemption for Schengen visa came in December when the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs (LIBE) approved the proposal.
The European Union’s plan to allow visa-free short-stay travel for Qatari nationals was struck by a corruption scandal concerning the European Parliament.
A voting in this regard was expected to be held early December to allow nationals of both countries to travel without a visa to the EU for 90 days, in case they have a biometric passport.
The Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs approval was considered the final step from the European Parliament, which would have been followed by brainstorming in a tripartite committee representing the Council of the European Union, the commission, and the parliament to draft the text of the Schengen visa exemption agreement before it is signed and implemented.
However, the proposal was put on the back burner after Belgian prosecutors charged Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili and three others with corruption in the context of a wider investigation into an alleged illicit influence campaign by Qatar.
Doha denies the claims with its foreign ministry highlighting that judicial procedures should be respected and results should not be anticipated.
