EU foreign ministers to back suspension of visa agreement with Russia

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
28 Aug 2022 19:00

Plans are underway for the EU foreign ministers to give political support to suspending the 2007 EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement.

Suspending the 2007 EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement is underway.

EU foreign ministers are this week set to back a suspension of the bloc’s visa facilitation agreement with Moscow in an effort to curb the number of travel permits issued after some eastern member states threatened to unilaterally close their borders to Russian tourists.

Some countries have demanded collective action to stop ordinary Russians from traveling to the EU on tourist visas, in the latest challenge for the bloc as it tries to punish Moscow for its operation in Ukraine while maintaining unity among its 27 members.

Countries including the Czech Republic and Poland stopped issuing visas to Russian tourists shortly after President Vladimir Putin launched a special operation in Ukraine in February. They have since demanded that Brussels enact a complete ban, echoing a plea from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenski.

But others have continued to grant the travel documents, allowing Russians with visas to travel anywhere in the Schengen free-movement area.

As a first step, the ministers plan to give political support to suspending the EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement at a two-day meeting in Prague that begins on Tuesday, three officials involved in the talks told sources.

“It is inappropriate for Russian tourists to stroll in our cities, on our marinas,” a senior EU official involved in the talks said. “We have to send a signal to the Russian population that this war is not OK, it is not acceptable.”

Parts of the 2007 deal relating to the free movement of government officials and businessmen were suspended in late February. A wider suspension would remove preferential treatment for Russians when applying for all EU visas, requiring more documents, making them more expensive, and significantly increasing waiting times.

“We are in an exceptional situation and it requires exceptional steps. We want to go beyond suspending the visa facilitation,” the senior EU official said, adding that deeper changes could be introduced by the end of the year.

However, there is no consensus on additional measures that Brussels could take that would either reduce the number of EU visas to be issued to Russians or halt their issuance entirely or on proposals such as extending any ban to citizens of Belarus, which has supported Russia's operation.

Some countries, including Germany, have cautioned against an outright ban. Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat who will chair the Prague talks, has said he opposes a ban on all Russian visas, saying the bloc needed to “be more selective."

Finland, Poland, and the Baltic countries, which border Russia, have therefore suggested they are prepared to stop allowing Russians with tourist visas to enter their territories, citing the Schengen agreement’s national security exceptions.

With air travel between the EU and Russia suspended, many Russian tourists use these countries as a transit route to other EU destinations. Kaja Kallas, prime minister of Estonia, said last week that 30% of Russians traveling to the EU do so via the Baltic state.

“I do look forward to finding a joint European solution on how to significantly limit the flows of Russian tourists to Europe,” said Lithuania’s foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, describing a deal among the 27 as “the most sustainable and legally correct one."

But, he added, “If a joint solution is not found, we do not rule out a regional agreement among the countries most affected by the huge flows of Russian tourists abusing European hospitality.”

Countries in favor of a full ban on Russians visiting the EU for tourism have said they do not want a full border closure and that exceptions must be retained for humanitarian reasons, asylum claims, and allowing dissidents of the Russian government to flee.

EU defense ministers, who will meet in Prague on Monday, will also discuss options for a potential training mission for Ukrainian soldiers run by Brussels.

The potential training centers, which follow a similar initiative by the UK this summer, would be based in EU countries close to Ukraine, Borrell said last week.