European Union Toughens Travel Rules for Russian People

The foreign minister of the European Union has suspended the visa facilitation deal with Russia, which makes it difficult for the people of Russia to obtain visas to travel to the European Union.

The European Union was divided to agree on the travel ban, and is also left unclear what the unilateral measures Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland, and Estonia can take to stop access to the visitors from Russia. The five countries have welcomed the suspension of the visa facilitation deal with Russia as a step in the right direction, but four of the countries stressed that more needed to be done to limit the numbers of issued visas, and Russians travelling to the European Union since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a joint statement, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Estonia said that until such measures are in place on the European Union level, they will consider introducing on the national level temporary measures of the visa ban, and restricting border crossing from the citizens of Russia who are holding European Union visas.

Joseph Borrell, foreign policy chief of the European Union, said that the suspension of the visa facilitation deal will itself having a real impact. He also said that this would significantly decrease the number of new visas issued by the member nations of the European Union.