EU moves toward tighter Russian tourist visa restrictions after Leipzig attack
EU countries have expressed broad support for tighter visa restrictions on Russian tourists and a ban on former Russian combatants entering the bloc following reports that a suspect in the Leipzig/Halle Airport drone attack entered the Schengen Area on an Italian-issued tourist visa.
“There was broad support to move with an EU visa entry ban for Russian ex-combatants and tougher visa restrictions for Russian tourists,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said following an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Ireland, according to Euractiv.
Kallas said the Leipzig case had reinforced concerns that tourist visas could be used by people seeking to carry out sabotage in Europe.
“If it is true, it shows very clearly that visas are a tool of these people who are meaning harm to the EU,” she said. “Many member states have flagged that actually these kinds of tourist visas are used for sabotage acts.”
According to Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung, authorities have identified two suspects in the attempted attack: a man of Russian origin with a Latvian passport and a Belarusian national holding a Russian passport.
The Belarusian suspect, who also holds a Russian passport, had previously come to authorities’ attention in several countries over other offenses. According to SZ, NDR and WDR, he entered the Schengen Area on an Italian tourist visa issued by an Italian diplomatic mission in Minsk in late April.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said authorities would investigate the reports.
“All of this, however, confirms that there is an attempt by countries to carry out actions against the EU, even using people who may have no criminal record and are not under suspicion,” Tajani said.
The debate comes after France, Italy, and Greece pushed in July to weaken a Baltic-led proposal to bar former Russian soldiers from entering the EU.
EU countries issued more than 477,000 tourist visas to Russian nationals in 2025, an 8.4% increase from the previous year, according to Euractiv. France, Italy, and Spain accounted for nearly three-quarters of Russian visa applications.
Germany formally blamed Russia this week for the Aug. 5 attack targeting a Ukrainian An-124 transport aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport. The explosive-laden drone struck the aircraft’s wing but failed to detonate. Germany subsequently announced that it would close the Russian consulate in Bonn in response.
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