Poland, Baltic states mull barring Russians regardless of EU

PRAGUE: Poland and the three Baltic states said Wednesday they were considering barring Russian travellers from entry if the EU as a whole fails to do so.

EU foreign ministers are meeting in Prague, which holds the rotating EU presidency, to discuss travel restrictions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine that started in February.

In a joint statement, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which all border Russia, said the suspension of a 2007 visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Russia, proposed by the presidency, was “a necessary first step”.

The move backed by many EU members including Germany would make EU visas more costly for Russian travellers and lift a deadline on visa issuance times.

“But we need (to) drastically limit the number of visas issued, above all tourist visas, to decrease the flow of Russian citizens into the European Union and the Schengen area,” they added.

They said the move should contain exceptions “for dissidents as well as other humanitarian cases”.

“Until such measures are in place on the EU level, we… will consider introducing on the national level temporary measures of visa ban, or restricting border crossing for Russian citizens holding EU visas,” reads the statement written in English.

Speaking to reporters in Prague on Wednesday, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu called for a “ban of entry of Russian Federation citizens into the European Union” but suggested the EU may be too slow to do this.

“Timing is crucial and the loss of time is paid by the blood of Ukrainians,” he said.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in Copenhagen on Wednesday that Russians should not receive any visas “other than humanitarian” ones.