But this \u201cshall not apply in cases where a member state considers that entry or transit through its territory is required for humanitarian purposes, national interests, international obligations, or relates to dissidents or defectors from the [Russian] armed forces,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
The measure was meant to improve EU security due to \u201cRussia\u2019s wider hybrid warfare strategies\u201d, the draft also said.<\/p>\n
Russian saboteurs aside, another risk was criminality by violent veterans with PTSD or alcoholism.<\/p>\n
It was also seen as being against EU values to let war criminals come for holidays in Europe.<\/p>\n
But when looked at more closely, the measures might be worse than useless.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand the logic, but in my view this is a populist measure \u2026 in the fifth year of the war, EU politicians need to show voters they\u2019re taking action,\u201d said Andrey Pivovarov from The Anti-War Committee, an international group which helped Russian asylum seekers.<\/p>\n
The measures might be useless because \u201creal saboteurs and spies do not apply for visas while indicating their military specialisation and service experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
And what was worse, \u201cthese sanctions will only create problems for those fleeing the war,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy closing the border to ex-soldiers, we are more likely to play into [Russian president Vladimir] Putin\u2019s hands, limiting their options, while creating a propaganda talking point: \u2018No one wants you and there\u2019s nowhere to run\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery one fewer Russian soldier at the front is a contribution to the defence against aggression,\u201d Pivovarov said.<\/p>\n
And the EU derogation for Russian deserters was also less welcoming than it looked.<\/p>\n
They might get a \u2018Type-D\u2019 humanitarian visa letting them stay in one or other EU state for 90 days, but then what?<\/p>\n
Baltic states have previously declined visa-extensions for Russians on grounds they had once played in an army-affiliated football club, even though half of all football clubs have had military links since Soviet times.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, even Russian dissidents who applied for EU asylum faced 80 percent rejection rates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFor those ex-soldiers who managed to get out, it is difficult to prove that continuing to serve would have created a risk of committing war crimes \u2026 which is a mandatory criterion for granting asylum under the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees,\u201d said Anastasia Burakova from Ark, another group helping Russian asylum seekers.<\/p>\n And one Russian deserter whom EUobserver spoke to, Artem Vovchenko, had no intention of seeking EU shelter after one bad experience in the West, when the US deported him to Russia in 2025 to face jail (he escaped again).<\/p>\n
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