New Delhi, Nov. 9 -- The European Union on Friday made it harder for Russian citizens to enter Europe's ID-check free travel area due to Russia's continued war on Ukraine, increasing acts of sabotage blamed on Moscow and the potential misuse of visas.

Russian nationals can no longer get multiple-entry visas into the so-called Schengen area, which is made up of 25 of the 27 EU member countries, plus Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

They will now have to apply for a new visa each time they travel to Europe, "allowing for close and frequent scrutiny of applicants to mitigate any potential security risk," said the EU's executive branch, the European Commission.

Exceptions will be made for people "whose reliability and integr...