Estonian Interior Ministry: Russian citizens may lose property in the country due to sanctions

Russians who own real estate in Estonia may lose it due to a visa ban and accumulated debts, declared Vice Chancellor of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior Veiko Kommusaar to the ERR portal.

According to him, if a real estate owner who is a citizen of Russia, because of the sanctions, will have debts in Estonia, this could ultimately mean the loss of real estate. Russians in the Baltic Republic own 41,351 properties.

“Indeed, if a person cannot find ways to maintain his property, then this extreme consequence may come. We do not currently assume that Estonia should take any mitigating steps here,” Kommusaar said.

The politician also believes that Estonia should further restrict the ability to own real estate in non-EU citizens.

“Can third-country nationals own land and real estate, for example, in critical infrastructure or border areas? It definitely needs more changes,” he concluded.

On August 17, the Estonian government announced plans to restrict the entry of Russians with Schengen visas issued in other EU countries. Foreign Minister of the country Urmas Reinsalu noted that this proposal does not contradict the laws of the European Union, and cited the coronavirus pandemic as an example, when all countries closed their borders to citizens of other EU states and the entire Schengen zone.

After that, the heads of the EU foreign ministries agreed to meet on August 31 to discuss changes to the Schengen visa code in order to limit the issuance of Schengen visas to all Russians, except for certain certain categories. First of all, we will talk about changing the visa code, which does not allow a complete cessation of the issuance of visas only on a national basis. Initially, the creation of a voluntary system will be considered, which is designed to multiply the issuance of tourist visas to residents of Russia.

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