Ban Russian tourists? European countries disagree

Ukraine pressures the European Union to veto the entry of Russian tourists into the block, such as punishment for war It’s been almost six months now. But the response was not unanimous: some members accept it and others resist.

Some countries bordering Russia already are stop visa applications or by limiting the number of visas issued. But there is no unanimous decision or position at the community level.

The issue will be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague on 31 August.

“The Russians overwhelmingly support the war, celebrate the rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities and the killing of Ukrainians. Let Russian tourists enjoy Russia then,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

President Volodimir Zelensky also asked Western countries to close their borders to the Russians and assured the newspaper Washington Post that they should “live in their world until they change their philosophy”.

Irated, the Kremlin has branded the request “irrational” and retaliation threatened.

different positions

Eastern European countries such as Latvia, Lithuania and Poland stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians soon after the Russian invasion began in late February.

Estonia has gone a step further and bans entry even to Russians who already have visas issued by its services and tries to do the same with those who have obtained these permits from other EU states.

Finland, the European country with the longest border with Russia, will reduce the number of Russian tourist visas from 1 September they manage 10% of the thousand they receive daily. A complete veto by nationality is impossible under Finnish law.

The measure will have an impact: Due to the closure of EU airspace to flights from Russia, citizens of that country have used the land connection with Finland to travel to other European countries.

Russian travelers often use Schengen visas, which are generally valid in 26 EU countries and neighboring countries such as Switzerland and Norway. They normally allow stays of up to 90 days in any 180 day period.

The total of 26 countries received around 3 million Schengen visa applications last year. The Russians represented the largest group, with 536,000, of which only 3% were rejected.

Estonia wants to change EU regulations to be able to reject Russians with Schengen visas regardless of the country in which they were issued.

Difficulties

But Cyrille Bret, of the Jacques Delors Institute, predicts “little chance to adopt “a ban at Community level, even if the public opinion of the countries is favorable.

The EU sanctions require the unanimity of all 27 member states and the latest packages of measures have passed with difficulty, especially due to the objections of Hungary, which maintains ties with Moscow.

The Czech Republic, which holds the temporary EU presidency, does not support a total veto, even though it put the issue on the agenda of the August 31 meeting and acknowledged that it would act normally with Russian tourists “in times of aggression. it is inappropriate. “

Prague defends that it wants to continue to allow the entry of Russian journalists and other civilians who fear persecution in their country. This clause is accepted by the rest of the countries in favor of the veto, including Ukraine.

Germany and Portugal see the ban as harmful to Russians disagreeing with the Kremlin who opt for these visas to flee the country.

Bret stresses that “the measure should be done against freedom of movement and the sanctioning policy followed so far “.

In February, the EU restricted certain types of visas for Kremlin-linked Russians, including senior officials, people with diplomatic passports and business people. But the tourist permits were still valid.

Greece and Sweden did not take sides on the issue and Denmark said they wanted to see the European consensus before deciding.

The European Commission admitted Thursday that discussions were underway to see if “a coordinated approach” could be achieved.

He also pointed out the need for humanitarian access for Russian dissidents and to examine each request individually.

Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson will visit Finland and Latvia in early September to discuss the matter with local authorities.

Source: AFP

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