The Commission of the European Union has once again raised concerns over Serbia granting citizenship to citizens of Russia through the accelerated procedure.

Taking into account the high number of Russians that are being granted citizenship by Serbia under facilitated rules and then entering the Schengen area without the need to obtain a visa, the Commission said that they are concerned about potential safety risks in the bloc, SchengenVisaInfo reports.

Commenting on the matter, an EU Commission spokesperson said from Radio Free Europe that Serbia should align its visa policy and not grant citizenship to Russians through the accelerated procedure.

Moreover, the spokesperson said that as a candidate country, Serbia should keep stricter rules against Russia and, at the same time, stressed that the authorities are currently closely monitoring the situation.

Nonetheless, the spokespersons did not disclose what measures the Commission is expected to take in case Serbia continues to grant citizenship to Russians under the accelerated procedure and does not align its visa policy as well as tighten its rules.

This is not the first time that the EU expressed its concerns. Earlier in May of this year, the Commission said that it was worried about Serbia granting citizenship to nationals of other countries under simplified rules.

Back then, an EU Commission spokesman said that Serbia risks its visa-free regime as the number of citizens of third countries being granted citizenship and then entering the EU countries visa-free has increased.

In addition to the above-mentioned, the EU countries have also complained about an increased number of irregular migrants reaching the bloc through Serbia. They said that the number of irregular arrivals significantly increased from countries for which Servia lifted the visa requirements.

For this reason, they have been consistently requiring the country to impose stricter rules for everyone.