The Baltic States, Poland and Finland will discuss a ban on entry for Russians by land

Officials from Poland, Finland and the Baltic states may meet next week to discuss travel restrictions for Russian citizens by land at the national level, reported Bloomberg, citing two EU diplomats.

About this earlier declared, without naming specific dates, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis. “During the discussions, we managed to convince all EU countries that millions of Russian citizens with Schengen visas are a problem not only for the countries bordering Russia, but also for the regional security of the EU. Together with Estonia, Latvia and Poland, in the coming weeks we will look for solutions that will significantly limit the flow of Russian tourists,” he commented on the results of a two-day informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the EU member states.

At the meeting held in Prague, among other things, the issue of banning the issuance of visas to Russian citizens was discussed. Several EU countries, including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, actively support this initiative, while a number of countries oppose it. As a result, the EU countries came to a compromise and decided to terminate the simplified procedure for issuing visas. “This means that the number of visas issued will significantly decrease, it will be more difficult and longer to obtain visas,” said EU diplomat Josep Borrell.

Foreign Ministers of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia following the meeting released joint statement, in which they noted that they intend to temporarily ban the issuance of visas to Russian citizens, as well as their entry with visas of other EU countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting with students and faculty of MGIMO declaredthat Russia should not close and take mirror measures on EU visa restrictions.

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