# EU Foreign Policy Chief Rejects Calls to Ban All Russian Visas
* Bloc’s foreign ministers set to discuss visa ban next week
* Estonia has said it would pursue blanket Schengen visa ban
By Natalia Drozdiak and Lenka Ponikelska
22 August 2022 at 11:26 BST
The European Union’s foreign policy chief pushed back against a proposal by some member states bordering Russia to prevent the nation’s citizens from entering the bloc, as its foreign ministers prepare to discuss a stop to tourist visas next week.
“To forbid the entrance to all the Russians is not a good idea,” Josep Borrell said at a conference in Spain. “We have to be more selective.”
Borrell said the EU shouldn’t open its doors to oligarchs but that “there are many Russians that want to flee the country because they don’t want to live in this situation.”
The EU is set to discuss banning travel visas for Russian tourists at a gathering of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Prague later this month, with countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Finland urging a bloc-wide ban in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged caution over a broad visa ban.Estonia has said it would pursue a blanket Schengen visa ban on Russian nationals if the EU doesn’t reach an agreement, closing off one of the few land borders after the bloc halted flights from Russia. Estonia will present the proposal to the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, ahead of the meeting of foreign ministers.
Borrell said some countries have already taken a certain number measures on the visa bans that other EU countries are not going to support, noting it would have been better to discuss it first at EU-level.
Speaking in Prague, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said his government, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, would push for a suspension of the EU’s visa facilitation agreements with Russia and Belarus, which has supported Moscow in its aggression.
“That seems to be achievable,” Lipavsky said. “We want to start debates about limiting visa issuance to Russians and people from Belarus. Member states’ opinions are split in this respect, and there is a lot of work ahead of us.”
How many times will this BS repeated and from top officials none the less?
Tourist visas dont stop people from fleeing, yes it makes it harder, but if an extra step stops you from fleeing, you didnt care enough to begin with. BS excuse to not lose tourist money.
Edit: immediate downvotes, the truth hurts.
>Borrell said the EU shouldn’t open its doors to oligarchs but that “there are many Russians that want to flee the country because they don’t want to live in this situation.”
Massive BS. Literally in every word.
1. “This situation” is exactly what they want. Russia keeps killing Ukrainians and Russians are not affected by this in any way. This is exactly what Russians want.
2. “They want to flee” – they don’t need tourist visa to EU for multiple days to flee if they really want to flee.
3. “Oligarchs” – these people are not oligarchs, they are placeholders, it’s not like they have any real influence.
Glad to see EU-level politicians pursuing a weighted and thought-out approach as compared to knee-jerk populist measures. Would be ridiculous to see Putin’s cronies, including his [ex-wife](https://acf.international/news/ex-wife), with their purchased permanent residences and citizenships free to travel to mansions on Côte d’Azur, while educated professionals that want to escape from being sent to the army or prison are denied entry purely based on their nationality. Thinking that people with bare hands will be able to overthrow the well-armed mafia supported by billions of Western payments for energy is a pipe dream.
And yes, short-term visa ban (no such thing as “tourist” visa) does hurt people trying to escape from the regime, as it makes it harder for them to find a job to relocate without requesting asylum, and makes it almost impossible for asylum-seekers (good luck finding a transport carrier to get to the border without a visa, and good luck explaining to FSB officers at the border that you want to apply for asylum without getting sent to gulag instead).
In the words of Russians abroad:
>Khazina also doesn’t think much of many of her fellow Russians in Belgrade. “At our protest events, just 50 to 100 of the tens of thousands of Russians in Belgrade regularly show up,” she said. “Most Russians have come to Serbia because Spotify and Netflix no longer work back home,” she added. “There are many apolitical people among them.”
>
>[https://www.dw.com/en/russians-are-increasingly-flocking-to-visa-free-serbia/a-62792799](https://www.dw.com/en/russians-are-increasingly-flocking-to-visa-free-serbia/a-62792799)
BTW, where’s the vocal, committed anti-war movement from these virtuous Russians currently living in free European societies after escaping Putin’s tyrannical regime? Perhaps they do not care at all about the genocide of Ukrainians or actually support Putin while living comfortable lives in Europe? Lastly, Russians can travel visa-free to Serbia, UAE, Venezuela, and several other countries, Europe is not the only option.
5 comments
# EU Foreign Policy Chief Rejects Calls to Ban All Russian Visas
* Bloc’s foreign ministers set to discuss visa ban next week
* Estonia has said it would pursue blanket Schengen visa ban
By Natalia Drozdiak and Lenka Ponikelska
22 August 2022 at 11:26 BST
The European Union’s foreign policy chief pushed back against a proposal by some member states bordering Russia to prevent the nation’s citizens from entering the bloc, as its foreign ministers prepare to discuss a stop to tourist visas next week.
“To forbid the entrance to all the Russians is not a good idea,” Josep Borrell said at a conference in Spain. “We have to be more selective.”
Borrell said the EU shouldn’t open its doors to oligarchs but that “there are many Russians that want to flee the country because they don’t want to live in this situation.”
The EU is set to discuss banning travel visas for Russian tourists at a gathering of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Prague later this month, with countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Finland urging a bloc-wide ban in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged caution over a broad visa ban.Estonia has said it would pursue a blanket Schengen visa ban on Russian nationals if the EU doesn’t reach an agreement, closing off one of the few land borders after the bloc halted flights from Russia. Estonia will present the proposal to the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, ahead of the meeting of foreign ministers.
Borrell said some countries have already taken a certain number measures on the visa bans that other EU countries are not going to support, noting it would have been better to discuss it first at EU-level.
Speaking in Prague, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said his government, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, would push for a suspension of the EU’s visa facilitation agreements with Russia and Belarus, which has supported Moscow in its aggression.
“That seems to be achievable,” Lipavsky said. “We want to start debates about limiting visa issuance to Russians and people from Belarus. Member states’ opinions are split in this respect, and there is a lot of work ahead of us.”
How many times will this BS repeated and from top officials none the less?
Tourist visas dont stop people from fleeing, yes it makes it harder, but if an extra step stops you from fleeing, you didnt care enough to begin with. BS excuse to not lose tourist money.
Edit: immediate downvotes, the truth hurts.
>Borrell said the EU shouldn’t open its doors to oligarchs but that “there are many Russians that want to flee the country because they don’t want to live in this situation.”
Massive BS. Literally in every word.
1. “This situation” is exactly what they want. Russia keeps killing Ukrainians and Russians are not affected by this in any way. This is exactly what Russians want.
2. “They want to flee” – they don’t need tourist visa to EU for multiple days to flee if they really want to flee.
3. “Oligarchs” – these people are not oligarchs, they are placeholders, it’s not like they have any real influence.
Glad to see EU-level politicians pursuing a weighted and thought-out approach as compared to knee-jerk populist measures. Would be ridiculous to see Putin’s cronies, including his [ex-wife](https://acf.international/news/ex-wife), with their purchased permanent residences and citizenships free to travel to mansions on Côte d’Azur, while educated professionals that want to escape from being sent to the army or prison are denied entry purely based on their nationality. Thinking that people with bare hands will be able to overthrow the well-armed mafia supported by billions of Western payments for energy is a pipe dream.
And no, blanket visa ban does not save from the spies, they can just travel [with fake IDs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Vrb%C4%9Btice_ammunition_warehouses_explosions) or IDs [issued by other countries](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anna-chapman-to-be-stripped-of-british-citizenship/). This only requires competent work of security services when screening visa applications and entries to the EU.
And yes, short-term visa ban (no such thing as “tourist” visa) does hurt people trying to escape from the regime, as it makes it harder for them to find a job to relocate without requesting asylum, and makes it almost impossible for asylum-seekers (good luck finding a transport carrier to get to the border without a visa, and good luck explaining to FSB officers at the border that you want to apply for asylum without getting sent to gulag instead).
In the words of Russians abroad:
>Khazina also doesn’t think much of many of her fellow Russians in Belgrade. “At our protest events, just 50 to 100 of the tens of thousands of Russians in Belgrade regularly show up,” she said. “Most Russians have come to Serbia because Spotify and Netflix no longer work back home,” she added. “There are many apolitical people among them.”
>
>[https://www.dw.com/en/russians-are-increasingly-flocking-to-visa-free-serbia/a-62792799](https://www.dw.com/en/russians-are-increasingly-flocking-to-visa-free-serbia/a-62792799)
BTW, where’s the vocal, committed anti-war movement from these virtuous Russians currently living in free European societies after escaping Putin’s tyrannical regime? Perhaps they do not care at all about the genocide of Ukrainians or actually support Putin while living comfortable lives in Europe? Lastly, Russians can travel visa-free to Serbia, UAE, Venezuela, and several other countries, Europe is not the only option.