Estonia and Finland urge Europe to ban Russian tourists

The Prime Ministers of Estonia and Finland are calling to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians for trips to the European Union.

"Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right," Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas posted on Twitter. She notes that since air traffic with Russia has been suspended, Russian tourists are crossing the border with Finland, Estonia, and Latvia, with which Russia shares a land border.

"It means while Schengen countries issue visas, neighbors to Russia carry the burden. Time to end tourism from Russia now," Kallas said.

The day before, Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin spoke about the need to limit the issuance of visas to Russians at the EU level.

"It is not right that at the same time as Russia is waging an aggressive, brutal war of aggression in Europe, Russians can live a normal life, travel in Europe, be tourists," Marin said.

Ban for Russian tourists

At the end of July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia announced that it was preparing a proposal for the European Union to ban the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians. The Ministry offered to issue only humanitarian visas, for example, to Russian oppositionists.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in March, the ban on issuing visas to Russians was already discussed at the EU level, but until July 15, there were restrictions in Russia due to the coronavirus, and trips were not as popular as they are now. The Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs considers it strange that Russian tourists massively travel through the western border of the Russian Federation (through Finland, Lithuania and Latvia) "to visit the Louvre in the summer, when children are being killed in Ukraine."

The EU Commission believes that the visa ban for Russians does not correspond to their visa policy. It is impossible to stop issuing visas completely, there must always be a group of people who can receive them. The EU also noted that the sanctions are intended to prevent Russia from waging an aggressive war against Ukraine and not to limit ordinary Russians.

The Prime Minister of Finland hopes that restrictions on tourist visas for Russians will be discussed at the next meetings of the European Council. Finland will emphasize the importance of restrictions.

After the full-scale invasion began, Estonia stopped issuing visas and residence permits to Russians and Belarusians, except for humanitarian exceptions. Recently, the Embassy of Latvia in Russia announced that it would stop accepting new visa applications from Russians.