Entry ban. Europe will be closed to the Russians

In Europe, from the beginning of the war, the authorities of some countries began to limit the possibility of obtaining visas for Russians.

Banning Russians from traveling to civilized countries is one of the most obvious restrictions that could be introduced after Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine. Since February, the Baltic countries have called to ban Russians from entering the EU, many countries have stopped issuing visas for them, but there is still no systematic ban from the European Union.

Zelensky suggested

Today the proposal to introduce such a ban was announced by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian head of state believes that the only way to stop Russia’s desire to occupy foreign territories is to ban Russians from visiting Western countries.

“The most important punishment is to close the borders … let them live in their own world until they change their philosophy,” the president insisted.

Zelensky noted that the sanctions already imposed on Russia for unleashing a full-scale war on Ukraine are “weak” compared to closing borders to Russian citizens for at least a year and a complete embargo on the purchase of Russian energy.

What has been entered

Russian airlines are already banned from flying to much of Europe and North America, making it harder for Russians to travel abroad. But there is no complete ban proposed by Zelensky. Russian citizens are still free to apply for visas and, for example, visit the United States.

Zelensky believes that all Russians, without exception, should return to Russia and stay there. And they must be held accountable for Putin’s actions, because they elected him and did not fight his regime.

In Europe, from the beginning of the war, the authorities of some countries began to limit the possibility of obtaining visas for Russians. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Malta refuse to issue tourist visas; Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark have stopped doing so due to consular worker shortages caused by mutual expulsions of diplomats. Because of this, in the visa centers of countries that issue visas in the standard mode, several months of queues began to appear.

There is support

In the conditions of closed air traffic, Russians in Latvia, Estonia and Finland began to travel to the border of the Russian Federation in transit to other EU countries, and this caused dissatisfaction among politicians and residents of the states which is close to Russia. Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said on August 4 that the issuance of tourist Schengen visas to Russians should be completely banned and suggested that it be included in the seventh package of sanctions. Reinsalu’s initiative is expected to be considered at a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the end of August.

Reinsalu’s statement was also supported by Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevich. On August 4, the Latvian embassy in Moscow temporarily stopped issuing any visas to Russians – before that, although tourist visas were generally prohibited, it was possible to get visas there for reasons humanitarian or for work.

In Finland, which started issuing visas to Russians only on July 1 (before that, there were covid restrictions), at the end of the month, the leaders of all the main political parties in the country asked to stop -issue with them. In early August, a Yle poll showed that 58% of Finnish residents supported the suspension of visas.

The European Commission said “we are ready to consider additional sanctions if necessary.”