Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Three European countries have denied reports that they may reduce the number of tourist visas granted to Saudis because of the “unacceptable behavior” by some. The behavior reportedly was caught on camera and went viral on social media recently. Some European parliaments have also called for reducing the influx of tourists from Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The parliament of Salzburg, one of Austria's nine federal states, has asked the Vienna government to cut down the number of tourist visas granted to Gulf citizens including Saudis. However, local daily Al-Watan on Wednesday quoted the embassies of France, Austria and the Czech Republic as saying that there was no change in the policies of granting tourist visas to Saudis. Since the beginning of 2014 until now, more than 321,000 Saudis have visited the three countries. This is in addition to the Saudi students who are already studying there. French consul general to Saudi Arabia said their embassy in Riyadh and their consulate in Jeddah together granted a total of 94,000 visas to Saudis to visit France since the beginning of 2015. “France's policy toward Saudis has not changed. It is still based on welcoming them. We are even amending the visa duration to make it four years or according to the validity of the passport,” he said. He said most of the Saudis who applied for visas have got them denying any intention of reducing the number of visas granted to them every year, especially during summer. The consul recalled that last year a total of 105,000 visas were granted to Saudis. “This year our embassy in Riyadh granted 48,000 visas and our consulate in Jeddah extended 46,000,” he added. Austrian charge d'affaires has also denied any intention by the embassy to reduce the number of visas granted to Saudis. He said 90,300 Saudis visited Austria last year while 26,600 have entered the country during the first half of this year. Deputy ambassador of the Czech Republic said during the first half of the current year, about 2,300 entry visas were granted to Saudis compared to about 4,000 last year. He said as many as 118 Saudi students are currently studying in his country which has deep-rooted relations with the Kingdom extending to about six decades.
