The European Union has decided to make it more complicated and expensive for Russian citizens to obtain tourist visas. After long discussions between the foreign ministers of the EU countries, who met informally in Prague, it was decided on Wednesday to suspend the agreement between the European Union and Russia, signed in 2007, which was designed to facilitate the issuance of visas to Russian tourists who wanted to travel in a Union country.
The suspension of these facilities, announced The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, is the result of a compromise between different visions within the countries of the Union. In practice, it will make the visa procurement process slower and more expensive, with a price increase from 35 to 80 euros.
It is a much more limited measure than that called for by several countries bordering Russia, which had requested a full visa ban, also under pressure from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But this line was not shared by all European countries, notably France and Germany, which opposed it.
At the two-day meetings in the capital of the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the second half of 2022, at least the Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have spoken out in favor of a full lockdown Visa, a goal that initially seemed difficult to achieve, although some other European countries showed signs of openness.
For example, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said: “I find it irritating to see Russian men on the beaches of southern Europe knowing that Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 cannot leave their country because they have to defend it from an invasion “.
Similar views were expressed by the Baltic Republics and Finland. In the case of the latter in particular, the request was due to the fact that in the months following the blocking of direct flights from Russia to Europe, there was a sharp increase in Russian citizens transiting the country: many actually reach Helsinki Airport and then fly to European destinations and such bypass the blockage.
For this reason, the Finnish government has also announced that it will cut tourist visa issuance for Russia by 90 percent from September 1, while the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Latvia have already suspended most visa issuance, and Estonia has also been previously issued visas cancelled.
A border station between Russia and Finland in Lappeenranta (Lauri Heino / Lehtikuva via AP, File)
The hard line, however, is not shared by France, Germany and, less openly, other countries: Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called it unfair and unwise to let ordinary citizens pay for “Putin’s war” when many sides are doing it is stressed, just as one cannot believe that forcing Russians to stay at home will automatically put more pressure on the government.
According to some diplomats, the decision could even lead to the European Union being perceived as hostile even to that part of the population that does not support the war in Ukraine. A total blockade would then create problems for dissidents and human rights activists, but also for students, academics, artists and citizens who have family members in Europe.
The countries that support the suspension of visas, on the other hand, underline how the blocking of direct flights from Russia to the countries of the European Union was easily circumvented by the richest part of the Russian population, whose presence during the usual European holidays was mostly constant, and that Russia can therefore only be effectively sanctioned with a visa ban.