Tourist Isolation: Does the European Union Ban Russians From Entering Its Territory?

Murad Jandali | 2 years ago

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Calls are increasing within the EU to deprive Russian citizens of obtaining tourist visas to Europe in the framework of sanctions due to the war in Ukraine, which is considered a dangerous escalation in the context of isolating Russia after the political, economic, sports, cultural and cinematic isolation that was imposed on it during the past months.

Whereas some EU countries are demanding to stop the Russians from exploiting the Schengen system for European visas, other EU countries see that the Kremlin might exploit such a decision to portray Europe as hostile to all things Russian, threatening a deep division in European unity.

In an interview with the Washington Post on August 8, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the EU to close the borders for Russians to live in their own world until their philosophy changes, as he described it.

Since the ban on flights from Russia to the EU, Russian tourists are coming in increasing numbers to the Scandinavian country, which shares a long border with Russia, to cross to other European countries.

Among the unofficial proposals aimed at reducing Russian tourism during the war was asking the Russians to sign a statement condemning the invasion when they entered Europe. The former US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, had also proposed imposing a tax of 100 euros on Russian tourists for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

 

Tourist Isolation

Several Western countries, including Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, have called for restricting or preventing Russian citizens from obtaining short-term Schengen visas in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but some major powers within the EU express reservations about the move, which some describe as collective punishment.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, thousands of Russians have flocked to Europe using these visas, either to escape repression or just for tourism.

However, after several incidents—most notably, a Russian woman's harassment of Ukrainian refugees in Europe—calls to stop granting visas to Russians intensified, according to the Guardian.

The Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia), Poland, and the Czech Republic have closed their doors months ago to Russian citizens wishing to obtain visas to enter the EU.

The government of Finland has called on EU countries not to issue entry visas to Russian citizens, as about 58% of its citizens support not granting Russians a visa, according to an opinion poll conducted by the government channel Yle.

On August 9, 2022, Finland announced its intention to reduce the number of visas granted to Russian citizens at the beginning of next September due to their use of Helsinki-Vantaa Airport as a starting point for European holiday destinations; according to Finnish media, about 60,000 Russians have applied for a Finnish visa.

According to data from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, last July, Helsinki granted only 16,000 visas to Russians, compared to 92,100 visas during the same month in 2019.

"Russians should not be allowed to live a normal life and visit Europe as tourists while Russia is waging war," Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin said.

In turn, the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, poured oil on the fire and provoked anger among Russians with a tweet in which she wrote: "Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right."

According to GlobalData, a data and analytics company, Russia represented the fifth country in the world with the highest number of international departures in 2021, with a total number of departures of 13.7 million. European countries, especially Italy and Cyprus, are favorite summer travel destinations for Russians.

In addition, travelers from Russia spent a total of $22 billion in 2021, earning it a place among the world's top 10 countries in terms of total outbound tourism spending, according to SchengenVisainfo.com reports.

In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, about 4 million Schengen visas were issued in Russia, of which about 40 million had foreign passports, according to EU data.

It is noteworthy that the EU had included more than a thousand Russians, including President Vladimir Putin and many wealthy Russians, on its blacklist of persons denied entry and, since the end of last February, has limited the issuance of short-term visas to officials linked to the Russian regime.

 

Russian Reactions

Calls by Ukraine and some member states for the EU to impose a ban on visas for Russian tourists have drawn an angry reaction from the Kremlin, "Any attempt to isolate Russia or the Russians is a process without prospects," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on August 9, 2022.

It also angered some Russian dissidents living in exile in Europe, warning against repeating the experience of the Soviet Union.

Ilya Krasilshchik, a Russian online publisher who has been threatened with prosecution for opposing the invasion and lives in Europe, warned that "the notion that the Russians, if they could not leave their country, would rise up and topple the regime was a complete lie. The former experience of the Soviet Union shows that closing the borders does not lead to the overthrow of the regime."

In turn, Ira Lobanovskaya, who advises on Telegram for those who want to leave Russia, warned that keeping people in Russia would be counterproductive.

Speaking of Russians who want to get out of Russia, Lobanovskaya said, "They need to unite abroad, form anti-war coalitions and speak frankly. Now you can't bring down a nuclear power like Russia from within. This is unrealistic."

The campaign of the arrested Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny considered that denying visas to all Russians is not in the interest of stopping Putin's policies.

However, another Russian opponent, former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev, who has been living in exile in Ukraine since 2016, has supported calls to ban visas for Russian tourists and called on his people, who are able to travel, to stay in the country and confront the regime, according to what he told the Guardian.

This opinion of Ponomarev expresses a trend that many Europeans opposed to the war in Ukraine seem to embrace, which says that Russian citizens must express their rejection of their president Putin's arrogant practices, or else they must bear the consequences, including depriving them of enjoying European beaches in the summer.

 

European Debate

On the other hand, it does not seem that all EU countries support the trend to restrict the granting of tourist visas to Russians; where the positions of the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark) and Germany differed, during their meeting in Oslo on August 15, 2022.

Germany has a conservative position revealed by its adviser Olaf Scholz, who opposed the ban, saying: "I think it is not the war of the Russian people, it is the war of Putin," considering that restricting tourist visas would also punish anyone who flees from Russia because he disagrees with the Russian regime.

On her part, a spokeswoman for the European Commission stressed that, according to applicable law, a basic ban on granting tourist visas is not possible at all, stressing that each visa application must be examined separately.

She explained that the European Commission sent guidelines to EU member states last May, according to which applications can be rejected after being examined individually, in the event that the applicant poses a threat, for example, to public order, internal security, or international relations.

The spokeswoman said, "at the same time, member states should not violate international law," explaining that some people, for example, must obtain a visa on humanitarian grounds because they have family members in the countries they are applying for a visa to enter, or because they are journalists.

On August 31, the EU foreign ministers intend to meet in Prague, and the issue of tourist visas for Russians will be present on their agenda, according to a report by the Deutsche Welle (DW); note that such a decision needs the comprehensive approval of the 27 members of the union.

In turn, former Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja suggested that Zelensky's call to stop issuing visas to Russians could lead to a split within the EU, which would be in the Kremlin's interest.

Meanwhile, Dmitry Lanko of the Center for European Research at Saint Petersburg University criticized European countries' attempts to punish all Russians.

He explained in a statement to DW that under the term Russians, there are Chechens, Tatars, and all the peoples living in the Russian Federation without exception, including Ukrainians living in Russia.

In turn, Alexander Gorokhov of the Federation of Russian Tourist Organizations (SONATO) said that the attempt to impose a general ban on Russians from entering the territory of the EU is the result of an emotional outburst.

"Russian tourists often bring money with them, even if it's via transit tourism. In my opinion, countries should not fight tourists because of geopolitical conflicts," he told DW.

According to analysts, banning Russians from traveling to Europe is a wrong decision because it makes Putin right when he claims that the war is being fought by pathological Russophobes and is driven by the hatred of all Russians.

From the point of view of lawyer Mr. Zaid al-Azem, in a statement to Al-Estiklal, the EU has the right, when it sees that a state threatens the security of one of its member states, to take precautionary measures and prevent the entry of Russian citizens to it.

As for the controversy within the EU about banning Russian tourists, Mr. al-Azem indicated that the European division on this issue is possible, given that there are European countries that reject this measure.

He continued, "Hungary, for example, to this day opposes boycotting Russian gas and a number of sanctions imposed against the Kremlin, as well as preventing Russians from entering the EU."

On the possibility of the EU agreeing to ban Russian tourists and the possibility of Moscow taking advantage of this and accusing the Europeans of having Russian phobia, Mr. al-Azem explained that "the EU has concerns and fears from Russia, but this does not reach the stage of Russian phobia," pointing out that "Russia is a rogue state that uses its army to occupy other countries, and it is a source of threat to several EU member states, such as Sweden and Finland."