With the ban on entry into the Baltic States for Russians, “atrocities” began at the border

Since September 19, a ban on the entry of Russian citizens into Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland has entered, and Switzerland has canceled the simplified issuance of visas for all holders of Russian passports. Those Russians who had relatives, urgent business or property on the other side were the first to feel the barrier from their closest neighbors. We asked them whether for a long time we should forget about the once "native" regions? Or will a resourceful Russian find a hole even in the Iron Curtain?

True, what has been said (on the official websites of these states) begins to stubbornly contradict what has been done (what the Russians have already encountered when they tried to leave the Russian Federation for the EU on Monday by land).

Estonia, for example, by September 19, specially published on its government website "answers to the most important questions" in Russian. And it says that among diplomats, dissidents, journalists and holders of dual citizenship, entry will also be allowed to “Russian citizens who have the goal of visiting family members living in the Schengen zone or a person with whom they are raising common minor children.”

And on the same day, a Russian woman with a Schengen visa was not allowed into Estonia, although she was transiting through it in a bus to her family in Latvia. A compatriot shared the incident in public pages dedicated to trips to the Baltic countries. Basically, they communicate there in peacetime, but now Russians are nervous, who have the closest people on the other side - parents, children, husbands, wives or lovers.

According to the Russian woman, on whose head the Estonian iron curtain collapsed first, the border guards assured her that he could enter any Schengen country where a Russian has relatives, but only “directly to this country.”

“Today I was returned to Narva at 2 am,” the Russian wife of a Latvian and mother of Latvian children shares in a chat. - I have a Latvian Schengen, my husband and children are citizens of Latvia. Transit flight by bus through Estonia to Riga. They said that I have the right to enter the Schengen zone, but I have no one in Estonia.

I explained to them that I needed an appointment with the migration service, since there were no other tickets for Riga. I had a bunch of documents with me - a marriage certificate, a copy of my husband's passport, passports of the Latvian children. But no, they said - go to the Latvian border. And they gave me a paper that I pose a danger to their state.”

“Given that Russia does not have a direct air connection with Europe, “directly” in translation from Estonian apparently means “stay at home,” the Russian wihz intermediary comments. - Although the official website of Estonia says something completely different. But what to take from the border guards, even if at the highest level they still don’t really understand how this will work.

Indeed, even UN Secretary General António Guterres called visa restrictions for all Russians in a row “not a good idea”. And the Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, in order to avoid discrepancies in details, got out of the situation with a harsh but vague warning that “from September 19, Russian tourists with Schengen visas in their hands will face a comprehensive check with prejudice when entering Lithuania.” At the same time, on Monday, a Russian woman already safely entered the country, who announced at the border that she was heading to Kaliningrad, but instead calmly headed for Klaipeda.

According to the statement of the Lithuanian power ministry, “the purpose of more stringent checks at the border is to make sure that this Russian traveler is not a source of threat to public order, health, foreign relations and national security of Lithuania.” However, the Russian woman, who for obvious reasons does not advertise the specific “path” that successfully led her to the Baltic dunes, assures that no “oaths of hatred for the motherland” were taken from her. However, she allegedly kept her way to Russian Kaliningrad.

If you believe the messages in the chat, Russians successfully got into Riga on the “forbidden Monday”.

“Today I flew to Riga via Helsinki, the Spanish Schengen, they didn’t ask anything at all and didn’t inspect anything,” the Russian woman shares.

- And I entered the territory of Latvia by bus, said that I was going to Spain. They asked me to show plane tickets to Spain and that's it, they let me in without any problems.

But this same Monday turned black for Russian parents, whose daughter lives in the homeland of her Estonian husband, and with a residence permit: they were deployed at the border.

- They said that the residence permit is urgent, - the upset daughter explains. - And from now on, only Russians with a permanent residence permit, and specifically in Estonia, can invite relatives, even parents.

- Can we drill holes in the Baltic Iron Curtain? I am interested in the opinion of a visa specialist.

- Perhaps. Lots of bottlenecks. For example, Estonia, for all its severity (even owners of Estonian real estate with a Russian passport will no longer be able to enter the country, they are invited to “manage their property at a distance” - Auth.) does not prohibit the entry of Russians not from the Russian Federation, but from other EU countries. You can just drive in from the other side. Or, say, get off the cruise ship in the Baltic port and not return to the ship.

It is not entirely clear who these “Russians entering for humanitarian purposes” are, such “goals” are already offered by the European consulates themselves for some bribe. The call for an internship has not been canceled, it is also the consular officers themselves who say that such a call can be arranged.

- Do the Baltic consulates themselves really advise?!

- I will not let anyone down, because both sides need to get to each other. I mean ordinary people. And even in the Baltic consulates there are normal people.

Read the material “Russians on the border with Lithuania began to be asked about their attitude towards the NVO”