The Russians described the way to get to Europe by train

The discussion between the EU countries about whether it is necessary and legal to deprive all holders of a Russian passport from access to the territory of the European Union, without exception, is gaining momentum. Having familiarized ourselves with the official positions of the countries, we learned from our tourists how things are “on the ground” – that is, in these countries themselves and on their borders.

Lithuania, like the other two Baltic ex-Soviet republics, openly supports a complete ban not only on the issuance of tourist Schengen visas to Russians, but also on the issuance of national visas to them from EU countries that are not part of the Schengen agreement.

The Lithuanian authorities support the position of neighboring Estonia, whose foreign minister explained the day before: “The citizens of the Russian Federation must understand that the purpose of the sanctions is precisely this.” Namely, that access to the republic will be closed not only to tourists, but also to Russians seeking to Estonia to study or work, as well as to Russian owners of Estonian real estate.

The official added that “the difficulties that the Russians will face after the introduction of visa restrictions in Estonia are not a problem for the republic itself.” Latvia has gone even further and intends to “revise” (in other words, cancel) those previously issued to all categories of citizens of the Russian Federation of new visas and residence permits.

Baltic cultural objects also joined the struggle for peace. Thus, the historical site Pakruoi, the largest manor complex in the Baltics, announced its decision not to accept visitors with Russian citizenship. True, after the administration of the museum complex announced on the website and in social networks that it was not allowed to access the world cultural heritage “on the basis of a passport”, it was bombarded with angry comments (and not only offended lovers of Lithuanian history with a red passport).

In the meantime, an ordinary Russian tourist told in detail on a travel forum in Runet how she calmly got off the branded train from Moscow to Kaliningrad at the Lithuanian station Kyana and transferred to a local train to Vilnius. The girl praises and thanks the Russian conductors and Lithuanian border guards “with a human face” and reminds other Russian tourists that there are no documents restricting getting off or boarding the train. Here is the story of a lucky traveler:

– I read a hint on the forum: take tickets to the beginning of the car and ask your conductor to talk to the Lithuanian border guards to start checking from the beginning of the car. I turned to my guide, she immediately replied that she would do everything possible. And she said that she knew about the train to Vilnius, I’m not the only one getting out here.

Everything worked out: at 7:59 a young Lithuanian runs in with the words: “Who is here on the train? She is at 8:21 from the first path, let’s hurry up the passports! And out of turn, he checks the passports of Russians and lets us out onto the platform, where the train to Vilnius should come up.

As a conclusion, the tourist reports that the “human factor”, in spite of everything, is friendly on both sides of the border.

Finnish ministers today gathered for a meeting “without ties” to discuss (and, according to experts, approve) the idea to reduce the acceptance of applications for the Finnish Schengen from Russians to 1/5, or even better – to 1/10 of the number accepted today applications (today, about 1000 per day, with daily applications for a tourist visa, there will be 100–200 per day, and documents from tourists will be accepted only on Mondays). On the remaining working days, applications will be accepted only from those Russians who need to visit Suomi for family reasons, work or study. According to the Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs, today’s decision will be implemented this month. In the meantime, according to the border residents, the ground border checkpoint in the St. Petersburg region quietly passes in both directions, and there are not even queues.

By the way, at the “no ties” meeting, according to sources, Finnish officials blamed Greece, Italy and Spain, which continue to issue visas to Russian citizens and do not participate in the debate on the ban. In any case, until the EU takes a unified decision, and this will happen only at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague on August 30-31.

And of the “participating in the debate” countries, Denmark, represented by its Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, said: “I understand why some Europeans, as well as Ukrainians, find it strange that we are now accepting tourists from the Russian Federation. I think this is an important discussion.” Sweden “continues to listen to different opinions, considers various pros and cons, and finds strong arguments from both sides.”

But the Norwegian prime minister emphasized that letting Russians into the EU is not only harmful, but also useful: “Russian tourists abroad also get a different perspective on what is happening.” German Chancellor Scholz recalled that the sanctions were taken “against the oligarchs and those responsible for making decisions,” and not against ordinary Russians.