The Czech Parliament supported the idea of ​​banning the issuance of visas to Russians

The heads of committees of the Czech Parliament called for the EU countries to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens. The initiative will be discussed by EU ministers at the end of August in Prague, transmits Czech radio.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Policy, Defense and Security, Pavel Fischer, and the head of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Marek Zhenishek, spoke in favor of stopping the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians.

Ondrej Benesik, chairman of the European committee of the Czech parliament, suggested introducing the same regime for issuing visas that operates in the Czech Republic. After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the country completely stopped issuing short-term visas to Russians, with the exception of humanitarian ones.

Fischer calls the opportunity to travel to EU countries a privilege for Russians.

“It is a shame how much money Russians, whose property may be of criminal origin, spend on luxury goods in Berlin and Paris. I also find it shameful that some EU countries still offer large investors from Russia to obtain citizenship or residence permits. This must stop! By the way, the housing they have invested in in the Czech Republic needs to be carefully taxed,” he said.

The senator believes that Russians who need help can apply for asylum or international protection in the Czech Republic.

Earlier, the Czech Foreign Ministry, which presides over the EU Council, reported that the country initiates discussion with the member countries of the association about a ban on the issuance of Schengen visas for Russians at the end of August.

Now the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have already stopped issuing visas to Russians. Denmark and the Netherlands stopped issuing short-stay visas. Finland will reduce the number of tourist visas issued to Russian citizens by 5-10 times compared to the current level, and Estonia has decided to close the borders for Russian citizens with visas issued by the republic.

Germany, represented by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, announced its disagreement with the visa ban for Russian citizens. The authorities of Greece and Cyprus also do not support the introduction of a ban on the issuance of tourist visas to Russians, the Politico newspaper wrote.