“It is time to put an end to Russian tourism. » Kaja Kallas, the Estonian Prime Minister, made an impression by calling on Tuesday, August 9, the European Union (EU) to no longer issue tourist visas to Russian nationals. “Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a right”, she wrote on Twitter. Like the other Baltic countries, Poland or the Czech Republic, his country no longer grants, with a few exceptions, visas to Russian citizens since July 28. Kaja Kallas wants the whole EU to follow this example.
Stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Visiting #Europe is a privilege, not a human right. Air travel from RU is s… https://t.co/w2fwU8og7e
Since the relaxation, in July, of travel restrictions due to Covid-19, Russian nationals have been coming in large numbers to Europe, and in particular to the Baltic States. Since no flight has been possible between Russia and the EU since February 28, Russians wishing to travel to the west enter the Schengen area by crossing the land border separating them in particular from Finland, Estonia and Latvia.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin also expressed support for the idea of a European ban on granting tourist visas to Russians. In Estonia, Marika Linntam, Director General for European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, contacted by The worldconsiders it to be “a moral issue”. “Russia has started an unjustifiable war. Therefore, why would it be so easy for its nationals to come shopping in Europe, to buy brands that they can no longer find at home? The daily life of Russian citizens must not continue as if nothing had happened. We want Russians to know that this war has consequences,” she says. “The most important sanctions are to close the borders” to the Russians, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently insisted in an interview with the American daily Washington Post.
No generalization
Estonia sent a clear political message… which was not always enthusiastically received in Brussels. The European Visa Code does not provide for a generalized and automatic ban on the issuance of such a document. It is based on an analysis of requests on an individual basis. Of course, Member States could decide to do otherwise, within the framework of the sanctions policy. Before banning tourist visas, the Council of the European Union, made up of the governments of the Twenty-Seven, could suspend or repeal the visa facilitation agreement between Russia and the EU. This regime allows Russian nationals to obtain European visas more quickly and at reduced prices. It has been partially suspended since February 25 for certain categories of people linked to Russian power: parliamentarians, members of national or regional governments, representatives of professional organisations.
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