Lithuanian Foreign Ministry: Baltic countries may ban Russians from entering without EU decision

If the EU does not impose a ban on the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens, then the Baltic countries, Poland and Finland may do so at the regional level. This statement was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis.

“We do not exclude the possibility of finding a regional solution that would include the Baltic countries, Poland and possibly Finland,” he said (quote according to LRT).

At the same time, the minister stressed that, first of all, Lithuania is striving for a common EU decision on the ban on issuing visas to Russians, since “it is the most stable and legally correct.”

In a number of EU countries, there have been repeated calls to ban Russian citizens from entering the EU. Thus, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic have already suspended the issuance of visas to Russians. Estonia decided to close the borders for Russian citizens with visas that were issued by the republic. Exceptions are diplomats, persons with the right to free movement within the EU and those who have relatives in the country.

In addition, Finland decided to significantly reduce the number of visas issued to Russians. On August 16, the country’s government announced a reduction in the number of visa applications accepted in Russia to 500 per day. And from the beginning of September, an average of 100 applications per day for tourist visa applicants will be opened, about 10 times less than the current number. Today Prime Minister of the Republic Sanna Marin statedthat in Finland they slowed down the procedure for issuing tourist visas to Russians in addition to the measures already taken.

At the same time, several EU countries spoke out against a complete ban on issuing visas to Russians. At first, the initiative was criticized by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Later, the authorities of Cyprus and Greece opposed. Also, the idea is not supported by the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell.

On August 31, a meeting of the heads of the EU foreign ministries is to take place. It is planned to discuss changes in the Schengen visa code to limit the issuance of Schengen visas to all Russians, except for some specific 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.

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