The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the ban on issuing tourist visas to Russians is a matter of respect for Europe for themselves.
Ukraine represents a complete ban on the issuance of tourist visas to Russians by EU countries. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba in an interview with Radio Liberty, published on Tuesday, August 30.
According to Kuleba, “the era of half-steps for Russia is over.”
“The regime of simplified issuance of European visas for Russians has been in force since 2007. Since then, Russia has started a war against Georgia, a war against Ukraine, has committed murders of opponents of the Putin regime on the territory of European states and other crimes. Did the Russians’ trip to the EU help change their attitude towards Europe or teach them to respect the borders of other countries?” Kuleba asked rhetorically.
He emphasized that the ban on the issuance of tourist visas is a matter of respect for the Europeans themselves.
“Europeans should not allow Russian citizens who support Putin’s aggression against Ukraine and Europe as a whole to use themselves. Since February 24, Ukraine has taken the position that the time for half-steps against Russian Federation,” insisted Kuleba.
According to him, the most important thing is that European countries and politicians, including Germany and France, who have some illusions about Russian politics, Russian society, will get rid of them.
“Since 2007, all this time, while the simplified method of issuing visas has worked, it has not helped to change the attitude of Russians towards Europe and, above all, it has not helped to educate the Russians to respect others, other countries, other people,” the minister said.
Kuleba also added that the window of opportunity should be kept open for real opponents of the Putin regime, dissidents, as well as people who need a visa for humanitarian reasons, or for additional refugee status.
Remember, on Tuesday, it became known that Germany suspended the simplified visa regime in the Russian Federation.
As reported, the EU is preparing to complicate the issuance of visas for Russians. Brussels aims to “go beyond restricting visa facilitation” and may take further steps in this direction before the end of the year.
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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.