They will be able to “close” themselves from tourists from Russia and introduce visa restrictions as sanctions of the EU country on a “cunning” model: the European Commission has officially stated that each country decides on an individual basis. The Baltic states, as well as Poland and the Czech Republic, which joined them, immediately took advantage of this – they promise entry only on “humanitarian visas”. At the same time, a significant part of European countries is in no hurry to close the Iron Curtain, and more – resumes the issuance of tourist visas.
“Each country decides on this issue individually. EU members have the potential to complicate or suspend the issuance of long-stay visas and residence permits in accordance with national law. However, when it comes to issuing short-stay visas, Member States must consider each application on the merits,” – officially responded to the European Commission. Then they did not forget to emphasize that “our sanctions are not directed against the citizens of Russia.” However, family members, as well as “journalists and dissidents”, were promised visas regardless of the situation. “However, with regard to visas, this decision is made by each EU member state separately,” the EC press service said.
The list of countries that have already closed the issuance of visas to almost all categories of Russian citizens, surprisingly coincides with the “instigators” of closing the sky. The tone was set by the Czech Republic, which on February 24 suspended the processing of visa applications from Russian citizens “except in humanitarian cases.” Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia briefly lagged behind. Lithuania has suspended visas “regardless of the purpose of the planned trip”, Latvia “except for humanitarian reasons”, and Estonia is ready to allow Russians if they have relatives with a residence permit or the right to reside in Estonia, as well as “emergency medical services”.
A separate point can be called the position of Poland – it is the government of this country is trying to sell the idea to close the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians in general. The initiative was announced by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on April 4. He proposes to leave the “window” only for those who want to escape – and issue visas only to those who “plan to leave Russia.”