EU chief diplomat opposes visa ban for Russian tourists

EU leaders are set to meet next week to discuss the subject after Finland, Estonia, and the Czech Republic called for an EU-wide visa ban for Russian tourists last week.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky also put his weight behind the ban. But the Biden administration cautioned against it, and in a statement, the state department noted it is “important to draw a line between the actions of the Russian government and its policies in Ukraine and the people of Russia”.

The European Commission has so far not offered any official guidance on the issue, but some EU members, including the Czech Republic, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency and Latvia, have suspended visas for Russians.

“The Czech Republic will seek to suspend the EU’s visa facilitation agreements with Russia and Belarus,” Czech minister of foreign affairs Jan Lipavský tweeted on Monday.

While EU countries have banned direct air travel from Russia, limiting the number of tourists reaching EU capitals, St Petersburg is only 300km from the Finnish capital and Russians can still travel to Estonia and Finland and reach Europe from there.

Since Covid restrictions on travel were lifted, Russian border crossings to Finland have increased by between 10 and 30 percent compared to spring, Finnish government officials have said.

But last week, German chancellor Olaf Scholz came out against issuing blanket bans as the total exclusion of Russian tourists would backfire and harm president Vladimir Putin’s opponents.

Scholz was later joined in opposition by his counterparts in Greece and Cyprus, both popular tourist destinations for Russians travelling abroad.

The visa ban is expected to be discussed at next week’s meeting of ministers in Prague.