The visa center said that during July and August 2026, Schengen visa applications will be accepted only from travelers planning to attend sporting events. Applications for Slovak national visas will continue to be processed as usual.
All previously scheduled appointments for tourist, business, private and other types of travel will be canceled. The visa center said applicants would receive full refunds of the service fee.
The center expects to resume accepting Schengen visa applications after August, although no specific date has been announced.
On June 3, Poland and 10 other countries called on the European Commission to introduce stricter restrictions on issuing Schengen tourist visas to Russian citizens and to tighten entry requirements for the Schengen area. The countries said the move was necessary because of Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, the growing number of Russian tourists traveling to Europe and the need to strengthen security measures.
In March, eight European Union member states — including the Baltic states, Poland, Germany, Finland, Romania and Sweden — urged EU leaders to ban current and former Russian military personnel who had participated in combat from entering the Schengen area.