Thursday, August 11, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declarationYou can’t even imagine the end of issuing Schengen visas to Russians. According to the German leader, “the leadership of the Russian Federation, not ordinary citizens, is responsible for the situation in Ukraine.”
“Therefore, I cannot imagine such repercussions,” he said, referring to the possibility of a visa ban on Russian citizens. Scholz stressed that this would weaken the effectiveness of sanctions “if they are directed at everyone, including the innocent.” TASS.
The head of the German government also recalled that the EU had previously decided on “wide-scale sanctions” against Russia, which “affected a large number of certain people, the oligarchs who support Russia’s power structures”.
“We will definitely continue this,” the Chancellor said.
Estonia closes borders
By the way, the Estonian authorities made a decision based on which of the citizens of the Russian Federation holding a Schengen visa issued by the republic: login will be closed Reports portal to the territory of this country ERROR.
“Schengen visas issued by Estonia will be sanctioned within a week. Russian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said that restrictions will be imposed on visa holders from Russia, and they will be banned from entering Estonia.
According to him, a number of exceptions to this rule will be made. In particular, employees and their families of diplomatic missions in Estonia, as well as persons engaged in international transport or have the right of free movement under EU law, will not be subject to sanctions.
In addition, restrictions will not apply to persons who are required to enter Estonia for humanitarian reasons, close relatives of citizens of the republic, or holders of permanent residence permits in Estonia.
At the same time, in the future, the Estonian authorities plan to ban the entry of all Russians with a Schengen visa of any country – the government of the republic will consider this issue next week.
According to experts, the statement in which the restriction is presented indicates that Russians can still enter Estonia with the Schengen of other countries. Also, the Schengen Free Movement Act guarantees free movement within 90 days to anyone holding a visa issued by any of the 26 members in the territory of the treaty countries.
“So, Estonia can only impose restrictions on its own entry documents and does not have the right to violate the EU border crossing procedure,” he writes. TourDom.ru.
We would like to remind you that previously the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, stated that he considered it necessary to ban the issuance of tourist visas to EU countries for citizens of the Russian Federation. He called for an “end to tourism from Russia”, describing visiting Europe as “a privilege, not a human right”.
What measures are being taken by other EU countries?
In response, Latvia and Finland refused to issue visas to Russians. But this step cannot automatically prohibit Russian citizens from entering and leaving the territory of Schengen countries, it writes. El Mundo.
The publication also argues that the idea of banning Schengen visas for Russian citizens is unlikely to gain support in EU countries.
Against this background, the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the country may take a number of measures if Russians visit Europe en masse with Schengen visas issued in the republic. The Prime Minister of this country, Sanna Marin, supported the restrictions on Russian tourists.
Earlier, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with the newspaper Washington post He declared that Western countries should ban all Russians from entering their territory. Steffen Hebeshtreit, the official representative of the German Cabinet, said on the eve that the proposal to ban the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians was under discussion in the EU – Berlin took this into account, but did not intend to assess the possible situation. results yet.