Scandinavia and Germany are at odds over Russian tourist visas
The Nordic countries and Germany showed signs of division in Oslo on Monday over restricting tourist visas for Russians in response to the invasion of Ukraine. This measure, endorsed by Helsinki, has met with reluctance in Berlin.
“Ordinary Russians didn’t start the war, but at the same time we have to understand that they support the war,” Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said after a meeting between Nordic and German leaders. “It is not fair that Russian citizens can enter Europe, the Schengen area as tourists (…) while Russia is killing people in Ukraine,” she told a joint press conference.
Finland’s foreign ministry unveiled a plan in early August to restrict issuing tourist visas to Russians wishing to travel to the country, and Helsinki wants a European-level decision. Since the flight ban from Russia to the European Union, more and more Russian tourists are traveling to the Nordic country, which shares a long border with Russia, to travel to other European states.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed reservations about such a measure. “It was an important decision on our part to impose sanctions on those responsible for the war, on many oligarchs and on those who benefit financially and economically from the regime [président russe] Putin,” he stressed. “We will continue to do this, but I think it’s not the Russian people’s war, it’s Putin’s war,” he said.
According to him, restricting tourist visas would also “punish all people fleeing Russia because they disagree with the Russian regime.” “Any decisions we make should not make it difficult for them to choose freedom and leave the country to escape the regime and dictatorship in Russia,” he argued.
Sweden, through the voice of its Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, said it had not yet made a decision on the issue, while Denmark called for maintaining European unity vis-à-vis Moscow.