In the spring of 1955, the Soviet leadership adopted a resolution allowing the country’s citizens to travel abroad. At the first stage, this applied only to trips to friendly socialist states, although it was later expected to extend to capitalist countries as well.
Until then, only a small part of Soviet society had the right to cross the border. Those who usually traveled abroad were diplomats, foreign trade employees, and correspondents. For most people in the USSR, such journeys were out of reach, and their picture of the outside world came mainly from stories and publications in magazines, including Vokrug Sveta.
After the new resolution was issued, the situation began to change. The Thaw was beginning, and as limited and largely superficial liberal reforms moved forward, the Soviet Union cautiously started to emerge from the international isolation of the Stalin era.
One of the most accessible forms of foreign tourism for Soviet citizens became trips to Eastern Europe — to countries that were under Soviet influence.