A plan to freeze the 2007 agreement would make it more difficult and expensive for Russians to obtain visas to visit Schengen countries.

EU foreign ministers intend to support the suspension of the EU visa facilitation agreement with Russia in order to limit the number of visas issued to Russians.

According to the Financial Times , citing three sources who participated in the talks, the EU foreign ministers are planning to make this decision at a two-day meeting in Prague, which will begin on Tuesday.

“It is inappropriate for Russian tourists to walk around our cities, along our marinas. We must send a signal to the Russian population that this war is unacceptable, it is unacceptable,” said one of the senior EU officials.

Breaking the 2007 deal would remove preferential treatment for Russians when applying for all EU visas, require more documents, make them more expensive and significantly increase waiting times.

“We are in an exceptional situation and it requires exceptional steps. We want to go beyond the suspension of visa facilitation,” a senior EU official said, adding that deeper changes could be made by the end of the year.

However, the FT notes, there is no consensus in the EU on additional measures that Brussels could take, including reducing the number of EU visas issued to Russians, or completely stopping their issuance, as well as proposals such as extending any ban on citizens Belarus, which supported the invasion of Ukraine.

Finland, Poland and the Baltic states that border Russia have said they are ready to stop Russians on tourist visas from entering their territory, citing national security exceptions to the Schengen agreement.

“I really hope to find a common European solution on how to significantly limit the flow of Russian tourists to Europe,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, calling the agreement of all EU countries “the most sustainable and legally correct.”

“If a joint solution is not found, we do not rule out a regional agreement between the countries most affected by the huge flows of Russian tourists who abuse European hospitality,” the Lithuanian diplomat added.

Visa ban for Russian citizens – what is known

Five countries called for a ban on the issuance of Schengen visas to citizens of the Russian Federation: Estonia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Finland and Denmark . The first country on the list has already implemented an entry restriction.

In Russia, against the backdrop of such statements over the past two weeks, the number of applications for a Schengen visa has grown by 40%, and officials from the Russian Federation have threatened to respond to the ban.

The Czech Republic, which presides over the EU Council, intends to invite its countries to consider stopping the issuance of Schengen visas for Russians at a meeting at the end of August. According to representatives of the state, this can be a very effective sanction.

At the same time , Latvia is considering the possibility of canceling visas and residence permits for Russians who support the war against Ukraine.

On August 14, Polish diplomats announced that they were working on a ban on issuing visas to citizens of the Russian Federation. Decisions on this issue may be in the coming weeks.

On August 18, Denmark announced that it would restrict the issuance of visas to Russians , regardless of the decision of the EU. On August 18, it became known that the Russians would have to wait for Finnish visas for 5 months.

On August 19, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called on the EU countries to annul the multiple -entry Schengen visas issued to Russians .

But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposes visa sanctions . According to him, the borders should not be closed, because there are Russian citizens who do not support the war and are fleeing the Putin regime. In addition to the German Chancellor, Greece and Cyprus , Portugal and Sweden also spoke out against the ban on the entry of Russian tourists into the European Union . However, the Czech Parliament supported the “visa ban” of the EU for citizens of the Russian Federation.

Also against the proposal to ban the issuance of Schengen visas to citizens of the Russian Federation was the head of the EU Foreign Office, Josep Borrell.

(C)UNIAN 2022