MOSCOW, March 6 - RAPSI. Germany and Luxembourg have agreed to allow Russian civil servants to enter the country without a visa, Spanish Ambassador Jose Ignacio Carbajal told the media on Wednesday.

His statement came after the Kommersant business daily reported that Germany had called off its objections to canceling civil service visas for Russian citizens, and that an agreement simplifying visa formalities could be signed before summer.

"Luxemburg and Germany have agreed to cancel visas for the bearers of Russian civil service passports," Carbajal said.
He confirmed that an agreement will be signed soon.

"Once the agreement is signed, other nations will start issuing multiple entry visas to Russians," he said. "Spain already issues these visas for lengthy periods. In fact, upon second application, we issue visas for the longest possible term allowed by the Schengen agreement. We would like the maximum term to be three years. Our consular departments work three or four shifts. We would like to increase the term to three or five years. I think that this can be achieved by signing the agreement."

According to Carbajal, visas are issued within five days at most, and applications are accepted in 20 Russian cities.

"Russians know they can count on having their visa ready in the specified period," he said.