Montenegro to Require Visas for Russians, Belarusians, Turks

Montenegro’s government approved, on September 24, ending the visa-free arrangement with Russia, Belarus and Turkey, formally starting the last step toward visas for citizens of the three countries from November 1. The decision follows the same negotiating track, chapter 24 of the European Union accession talks, that Serbia is also working through, and Podgorica’s move shows how quickly a membership candidate has to give up visa-free arrangements that Brussels treats as a security risk.

The decision rests on the Decree on Amendments to the Decree on the Visa Regime, which Montenegro’s government adopted on July 23. It sets out that, from November 1, Russian, Belarusian and Turkish citizens will need a visa to enter, transit through and stay in Montenegro. Until now, citizens of all three countries could stay in the country for up to 30 days without a visa.

“To that end, the Government adopted the Decree on Amendments to the Decree on the Visa Regime on July 23, which stipulates that, starting November 1, citizens of the countries in question will need a visa to enter, transit through the territory of, and stay in Montenegro,” the Government of Montenegro said.

For Turkey, Podgorica is not closing the door entirely. The government has announced a new bilateral agreement under which holders of diplomatic, official and special passports would keep the right to enter without a visa, while ordinary Turkish citizens lose that exemption.

This is not the first change to Montenegro’s visa policy this year. The government had already decided that the same November 1 visa regime would also apply to citizens of China and Saudi Arabia, part of the same package of alignment with European rules. Montenegro, for its part, joined the European Union’s sanctions against Moscow immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but had kept visa-free travel for Russian tourists until now. That gap is exactly what the European Commission had pointed to for years as an obstacle to closing chapter 24, which covers justice, freedom and security.

Montenegro’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in July that aligning its visa policy opens the way to a payout of around four million euros from the European Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, funds tied to meeting the reform agenda.

How many Russians and tourists from other countries visit Montenegro?

The numbers show why the decision is sensitive for Montenegro’s tourism industry. According to the Montenegro Statistical Office for 2025, Russian guests accounted for 22.1 percent of overnight stays in private accommodation and 16.4 percent of all overnight stays by foreign tourists, making Russia the country’s second largest tourism market, right behind Serbia. Turkish citizens accounted for 4.9 percent of overnight stays in private accommodation, or 4.3 percent overall. Belarus, with 6,841 arrivals and 0.4 percent of total overnight stays, had a much smaller share. According to Ministry of Interior data from November 2025, more than 21,100 Russian citizens held regulated residence in Montenegro, most of them on the coast, in Budva.

The government says visa applications will be filed through the VFS Global network of centers, which already operates in Russia and Turkey, with plans to also introduce electronic applications. Podgorica intends to extend the same network of centers to Belarus, China and Saudi Arabia as well.

Brussels has repeatedly warned that Western Balkan countries not aligning their visa regimes with the European Union raises the risk of irregular migration, since citizens of third countries can enter the region without a visa and then attempt to cross the Union’s border. That warning is how Podgorica explains why it calls this step one of the last conditions for closing chapter 24.