WP: EU countries are unlikely to decide on a ban on issuing visas to Russians

EU countries are not likely to make a final decision on Wednesday at an informal meeting in Prague on visa restrictions for Russians. About it writes newspaper The Washington Post, citing European diplomats.

According to the publication, the meeting will not decide which categories of Russians can enter the EU and under what conditions. One of the diplomats specified that on August 31, only an informal start of the “discussion” would take place. According to him, this meeting will not “put an end” to the issue of a ban on issuing visas to Russian citizens.

Another interlocutor of the newspaper said that in the event of a complete ban on issuing visas to Russians, EU countries could set against themselves those Russian citizens who do not support the policy of the Russian authorities.

The diplomats specified that European countries could come to a compromise by suspending the simplified visa regime with Russia. According to them, this will seriously complicate obtaining visas for Russians and make the process more expensive.

Earlier today Politico newspaper informed about the idea of ​​the EU countries to raise visa prices for Russians and slow down their issuance. The publication refers to a letter that, on the eve of an informal meeting of foreign ministers, Germany and France sent to other countries. In it, the countries argue that restrictive measures could alienate Russians and cause divisions between some Western leaders and Eastern European countries.

Referring to the same letter, Bloomberg specified that the European authorities are afraid of a “cohesion effect”, and therefore not all countries support a complete ban on issuing visas to Russians.

An informal meeting of EU foreign ministers will be held from 30 to 31 August in Prague. It will discuss the continuation of military, political and financial assistance to Ukraine, as well as visa restrictions for Russians.

The discussion about the ban on the issuance of Schengen visas has been actively discussed in Europe since the beginning of August. So, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic have already suspended the issuance of visas to Russians, and Estonia decided to close the borders for Russian citizens with visas that were issued by the republic. Finland also restricted the issuance of visas. Today, the initiative to stop issuing visas to Russians was supported by the Netherlands.

At the same time, several EU countries spoke out against this ban. At first, the initiative was criticized by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell. According to Borrell, the idea of ​​a complete ban will not receive support in the EU. Later, the authorities of Cyprus, Greece, Hungary and France also opposed.

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