Josep Borrell: stop issuing visas to Russians is not a good idea, we need to be more selective The European Union should “close the doors” for Russian oligarchs, but banning visas for all Russians is not a good idea, says Borrell
< img class="aligncenter" src="https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/media/img/6/17/756611679078176.jpg" alt="Borrell called the ban on visas for Russians" not a good idea" />
Josep Borrell
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, did not support the idea of a complete ban on visas for Russians, put forward earlier by some European countries, reports Bloomberg. He made such a statement during a speech in Spain
«Ban entry to all Russians— not the best idea. We need to be more selective,— Borrell said.
The EU should not open its doors to the oligarchs, he said, but there are “many Russians who want to flee the country because they don't want to live in this situation.”
< p>The European Union plans to discuss the ban on issuing visas for Russian tourists at a meeting of foreign ministers of the block, which will be held in Prague on the last day of August.
A proposal to ban Russians from entering the EU was put forward at the end of July by Estonia, Tallinn will initiate the adoption a similar ban at the EU level.
Since August 18, Estonia has already stopped letting Russians in on visas that it issued itself. Holders of diplomatic visas, international transport workers, those who have relatives in Estonia, and some other categories of people can still enter the country. In addition, Russians can still enter with an Estonian Schengen to other EU countries, and in the presence of a Schengen visa issued by other states of the zone, and to Estonia. Lithuania and Finland are also discussing the idea. Latvian Prime Minister Karins Krisjanis said that the government decided not to renew the residence permits previously issued to Russians and to restrict entry to Latvia on Schengen visas; The country has stopped issuing new visas for an indefinite period. Finland has also announced that it will reduce the number of visa applications processed per day by a factor of ten from September. Called to stop issuing visas to Russians and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Another country that called for visa restrictions for Russians was the Czech Republic, which also suspended the issuance of visas and residence permits for them.
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The Russian Foreign Ministry, commenting on the initiatives of the European countries on Schengen visas, called them “discriminatory”, but invited the Russians not to exclude that the scenarios that now “seem unbelievable” will not be implemented.
European Commission spokeswoman Anita Hipper said earlier that the EU visa code “does not provide for the possibility of stopping the issuance of such visas », however, each individual country has the right to take certain measures on its own.
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