Thursday, March 28

The countries of the European Union that are closing their doors to Russian tourists

Almost six months after the start of the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Vladimir Putin, the doors of some countries of the European Union (EU) are beginning to close for Russian citizens.

The governments of Estonia and Finland are leading an initiative that seeks to close Russian tourists access to the free transit Schengen zone, which includes 22 members of the EU as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

“ It is not correct that Russian citizens can travel, enter the European Schengen zone, be tourists, see the landscapes, while Russia is killing people in Ukraine. That is wrong,” Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Tuesday during a press conference in Oslo.

His position was seconded by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who wrote on Twitter: “Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right.” He then added: “It is time to end tourism from Russia now”.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, the EU has banned flights from and to Russia.

However, land borders have remained open, so many Russians have been traveling overland to Finland and Estonia, two EU countries with which Russia shares land borders , and from there they take flights to other Schengen destinations.

Last week, the Finnish public broadcaster YLE reported that there are Russian companies that offer ground transfers from Saint Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia, to Helsinki and Lappeenranta airports in Finland , from where they can fly to numerous European destinations.

Kaja Kallas
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who wrote on Twitter: “Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right.”

Transit limitations

Some EU countries such as Latvia have begun to suspend the issuance of visas to Russian tourists due to the war, but these measures are ineffective if a decision is not made that affects all the members of the Schengen area.

Aeropuerto de Barajas.
Spain is one of the favorite destinations of Russian tourists.

According to the rules of this free transit zone, a tourist must apply for a visa from the country that plan to visit, but once you have you can enter into the Schengen zone through any of the member countries and transit freely during 90 days in a period of 180 days.

Spain, Italy and Greece are the three countries with the most visas tourists issue to Russian citizens.

During the In the last month, Finland and Estonia have been calling for a joint approach within the EU to close what they see as a “loophole” in the sanctions imposed on Russia that allows their citizens to travel by land, while being banned from flying or travel by train to the EU.

In the case of Finland, which had suspended the issuance of visas to Russian citizens due to the covid pandemic-19, began to issue them again last July, although in larger quantities. much lower than it used to.

However, the government has already announced plans to reduce the number of appointments for visa applications in Russia of 1.000 a 500 per day, of which only 100 will be destined for tourists.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Marin has said that the issue of visas for Russian citizens should be discussed by the EU.

According to YLE, this is expected to happen next 31 in August during the summit of European Foreign Ministers.

“I think that in future meetings of the European Council, this issue will come up even more forcefully. My personal position is that tourism should be restricted,” Marin told YLE.

Objections in Moscow… and Germany

Calls to ban Russian tourism have generated outrage in Russia and not only in the Kremlin.

In social networks, some figures The opposition have questioned the idea, considering that it feeds the government’s anti-Western propaganda and that it does not facilitate a solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, dismissed the initiative stating that in time “common sense will manifest itself and those who made those statements will come to their senses”.

The proposal has also encountered strong resistance from the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, opposes the ban on Russian tourists.

“This is not the war of the p russian town This is Putin’s war and we have to be very clear on this matter“, said the president on Tuesday during a press conference in Oslo.

“It is important that we understand that there are many people fleeing Russia because they disagree with the Russian regime”, he added.

But those who advocate the ban are not oblivious to these nuances, as the Finnish Prime Minister herself indicated.

“This is not a matter of black and white, there are also different shades of gray. There are also many people in Russia who are against the war, who are under threat…”, he added.

For To address this dilemma, Finland is considering the creation of a humanitarian visa that could be granted to Russian citizens who need to flee that country or travel to Europe to participate in related activities. with pressure groups or journalistic work.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, however, has a very clear position that he expressed last Monday in an interview with The Washington Post


. Her posture of him? All Western countries should close their doors to Russian tourists.


El canciller alemán Olaf Scholz.Now you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download the new version of our app and activate it so you don’t miss our best content.

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