Montenegro’s government has approved the termination of visa-free agreements with Russia, Belarus and Türkiye, moving forward with a change that will require citizens of all three countries to obtain visas to enter the country from 1 November, as part of the country’s EU accession process.
The decision followed a government meeting on 24 September, with Montenegro’s cabinet formally adopting the need to terminate the bilateral agreements governing visa-free travel with the three nations. Under a visa-regime decree adopted in July, citizens of Russia, Belarus, China, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia will all require visas to enter Montenegro from the November deadline. The government said the move is tied directly to its obligation to fully align its visa policy with EU rules as negotiations on accession continue.
For Türkiye specifically, Montenegro’s government said it plans to pursue a new bilateral agreement that would preserve visa-free entry for holders of diplomatic, official and special passports, in line with EU rules that permit such exemptions. The aim, according to the government’s statement, is to maintain continuity of the visa-free arrangement for these categories wherever possible under the EU framework.
The change carries real economic weight. Russia has long been one of Montenegro’s largest source markets for tourism, with Russian visitors accounting for around 16.4% of total overnight stays by foreign guests last year, while Turkish tourists made up roughly 4.3%. Visa service provider VFS Global has already begun accepting Montenegrin visa applications through centres in eight Russian cities, including Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Novorossiysk, as well as centres in Turkey, India, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and the UAE, in an effort to ease the transition ahead of the new rules taking effect.
Montenegro is also developing a new visa information system compatible with EU infrastructure and Schengen area security standards, alongside plans for a future electronic visa system, though no launch date for the e-Visa has yet been announced. The visa change follows an earlier tightening of rules for Turkish citizens at the end of 2025, when Montenegro first abolished visa-free entry for Turkish nationals before later shortening permitted visa-free stays from 90 to 30 days amid unrelated domestic protests in Podgorica.