The Czech Republic has officially proposed to the EU to ban the issuance of visas to Russians, the ban may be included in a new package of sanctions against Moscow.
The story of banning Russians from entering EU countries is gaining momentum. Jan Lipavsky, the Czech Foreign Minister of the current EU Council presidency, proposed on Friday to include a ban on issuing visas to Russian citizens in a new package of sanctions against Moscow.
“A total ban on visas to Russians by all EU members could be another very effective sanction,” Lipavsky said in a statement circulated to EU member states.
The Czech Republic will bring the discussion of the issue to an informal meeting of foreign ministers to be held in Prague at the end of August.
“During the Russian invasion, when the Kremlin continues to rise, there can be no question of ordinary tourism for Russian citizens,” said Lipavsky.
Earlier, he supported a complete ban on the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens, which was proposed by some EU countries, in particular, the Baltic countries.
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Discussion of Scholz
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz does not support the idea of a general ban on the entry of Russians into the EU, for example, for tourism purposes. “This is Putin’s war. And that is why it is difficult for me to agree with this idea,” the chancellor said.
According to Scholz, the EU has already decided on personal sanctions against people from the decision-making centers in Moscow. “We will continue this,” said Olaf Scholz.
However, he did not consider it justified to introduce punitive measures against all Russians. According to him, such a ban would weaken the effectiveness of sanctions “if they are directed against everyone, including the innocent.”
The Estonian Foreign Minister disagrees with Scholz’s position.
“I do not share the strategy when we talk about the “ordinary” Russian people and separate them from Putin. This war was carried out by the Russian Federation as a state. There is no doubt that the Russian people, in their passiveness , has a moral responsibility for this,” Reinsalu said.
Therefore, according to him, the European Union should impose such sanctions that Russian citizens cannot travel to Europe.
He mentioned that he would convince his colleagues to introduce such a ban from a moral point of view.
“It is absolutely morally unacceptable that we allow hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens to go on tourist trips, while in Ukraine children are blown up by rockets literally paid for by both Russian citizens,” Reinsalu said.
And so they don’t go abroad
According to a survey by the Public Opinion organization, about 70% of Russians have never traveled outside the state. Only 2% were abroad less than a year, 6% – up to three years ago. It is noteworthy that few people who have spent their whole lives in Russia want to see other countries.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.