The possibility that Serbia canceled the visa waiver for Cubans has been an open secret for some time. According to sources and information offered to different people and media by the consulate of that country in Havana, the regime change would be applied as of April 14.
The truth is that, after the indicated date and while the official information is still imprecise, in practice since the morning of April 14 there are Cubans who have been prevented from flying to Belgrade for not having a visa.
The website of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the first to update information on Cuba. The site notifies that a visa passport is required to enter Serbian territory.
It is unknown if the condition will be reciprocated; that is, that a visa be required for Serbs traveling to Cuba. The Cuban embassy in Belgrade also notifies on its page that: “Serb citizens are exempt from visas to travel to Cuba with tourist status for a period of three months.”
Meanwhile, a group of ten Cuban passengers from Russia was returned to Havana from Istanbul for not having a visa to enter Serbia, their desired destination. They were not allowed to board a Turkish Airlines flight bound for Belgrade on April 14. At least eight other Cubans, including a 1-year-old boy, are in limbo in the Turkish city.
One of them, Yeni, tells OnCuba: “They withdrew our passports and did not let us fly.” “The airline did not let us fly. The only option they gave us was to return to Cuba. Those of us who remain are asking that they at least return us to the place we came from, Moscow, ”he adds.
Other testimonies on social networks, not yet confirmed, assure that several people who were going to Serbia could not fly from Havana either.
Everything indicates that the visa requirement to enter Serbia is now a reality that Cubans wishing to travel to that country, a habitual destination for purchases and for irregular migration, must count on from now on.
