PRAGUE, Aug 31 (Reuters) – EU foreign ministers decided on Wednesday to make it more expensive and time-consuming for Russians to obtain visas to travel to the bloc, but did not agree to an EU-wide visa ban that Ukraine and many Member States had requested. The EU was too divided to agree at this stage on a blanket ban and also left unclear what unilateral measures could be taken by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland, which share land borders with Russia. to restrict access to Russian visitors. These five countries hailed the suspension of Russia’s visa facilitation agreement as a “necessary first step” but stressed that more needed to be done to “drastically” limit the number of visas issued and Russians traveling to block since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up “Until such measures are in place at the EU level, we will consider introducing at national level temporary visa ban or border crossing restrictions for Russian citizens holding EU visas in order to address imminent public security issues.” they said in a joint statement. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said the EU’s executive committee would indeed consider ways to go further, including what might be done with what Lipavsky said were some 12 million Schengen visas already issued for Russians – referring to zone of 26 countries of open borders. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell argued that suspending the visa facilitation agreement would already have a real impact in itself. “This will significantly reduce the number of new visas issued by EU member states. It will be more difficult, it will take longer,” he told a news conference at the end of a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague. Borel said a significant increase in border crossings from Russia to neighboring states since mid-July necessitated the suspension of the visa facilitation agreement.
“SECURITY RISK”
“This has become a danger to the security of these neighboring states,” he added. “In addition, we have seen many Russians traveling for leisure and shopping as if there was no war raging in Ukraine.” More than a million Russian citizens have entered the bloc through land border crossings since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, most of them through Finland and Estonia, the bloc’s border agency Frontex said. read more Ukraine has repeatedly said that ordinary Russians must also pay for the invasion, which has killed thousands of civilians, according to the United Nations, and leveled cities. Its foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, earlier on Wednesday repeated calls for an EU visa ban, saying it would be “an appropriate response to Russia’s aggressive genocidal war in the heart of Europe which is supported by the vast majority of Russian citizens”. read more But France and Germany disagreed. “We caution against extensive restrictions on our visa policy to avoid feeding the Russian narrative and causing unintended contractions around the effects of the flag and/or alienating future generations,” they said in a joint statement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold, Jason Hovet, Bart Meijer, Gabriela Baczynska. Ingrid Melander writes. Editing by John Chalmers and Nick Macfie Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
title: “Eu Complicates Travel Rules For Russians But Denies Visa Ban Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-13” author: “Tracey Umanzor”
PRAGUE, Aug 31 (Reuters) – EU foreign ministers decided on Wednesday to make it more expensive and time-consuming for Russians to obtain visas to travel to the bloc, but did not agree to an EU-wide visa ban that Ukraine and many Member States had requested. The EU was too divided to agree at this stage on a blanket ban and also left unclear what unilateral measures could be taken by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland, which share land borders with Russia. to restrict access to Russian visitors. These five countries hailed the suspension of Russia’s visa facilitation agreement as a “necessary first step” but stressed that more needed to be done to “drastically” limit the number of visas issued and Russians traveling to block since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up “Until such measures are in place at the EU level, we will consider introducing at national level temporary visa ban or border crossing restrictions for Russian citizens holding EU visas in order to address imminent public security issues.” they said in a joint statement. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said the EU’s executive committee would indeed consider ways to go further, including what might be done with what Lipavsky said were some 12 million Schengen visas already issued for Russians – referring to zone of 26 countries of open borders. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell argued that suspending the visa facilitation agreement would already have a real impact in itself. “This will significantly reduce the number of new visas issued by EU member states. It will be more difficult, it will take longer,” he told a news conference at the end of a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague. Borel said a significant increase in border crossings from Russia to neighboring states since mid-July necessitated the suspension of the visa facilitation agreement.
“SECURITY RISK”
“This has become a danger to the security of these neighboring states,” he added. “In addition, we have seen many Russians traveling for leisure and shopping as if there was no war raging in Ukraine.” More than a million Russian citizens have entered the bloc through land border crossings since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, most of them through Finland and Estonia, the bloc’s border agency Frontex said. read more Ukraine has repeatedly said that ordinary Russians must also pay for the invasion, which has killed thousands of civilians, according to the United Nations, and leveled cities. Its foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, earlier on Wednesday repeated calls for an EU visa ban, saying it would be “an appropriate response to Russia’s aggressive genocidal war in the heart of Europe which is supported by the vast majority of Russian citizens”. read more But France and Germany disagreed. “We caution against extensive restrictions on our visa policy to avoid feeding the Russian narrative and causing unintended contractions around the effects of the flag and/or alienating future generations,” they said in a joint statement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold, Jason Hovet, Bart Meijer, Gabriela Baczynska. Ingrid Melander writes. Editing by John Chalmers and Nick Macfie Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
title: “Eu Complicates Travel Rules For Russians But Denies Visa Ban Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-30” author: “Marjorie Bennett”
PRAGUE, Aug 31 (Reuters) – EU foreign ministers decided on Wednesday to make it more expensive and time-consuming for Russians to obtain visas to travel to the bloc, but did not agree to an EU-wide visa ban that Ukraine and many Member States had requested. The EU was too divided to agree at this stage on a blanket ban and also left unclear what unilateral measures could be taken by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland, which share land borders with Russia. to restrict access to Russian visitors. These five countries hailed the suspension of Russia’s visa facilitation agreement as a “necessary first step” but stressed that more needed to be done to “drastically” limit the number of visas issued and Russians traveling to block since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up “Until such measures are in place at the EU level, we will consider introducing at national level temporary visa ban or border crossing restrictions for Russian citizens holding EU visas in order to address imminent public security issues.” they said in a joint statement. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said the EU’s executive committee would indeed consider ways to go further, including what might be done with what Lipavsky said were some 12 million Schengen visas already issued for Russians – referring to zone of 26 countries of open borders. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell argued that suspending the visa facilitation agreement would already have a real impact in itself. “This will significantly reduce the number of new visas issued by EU member states. It will be more difficult, it will take longer,” he told a news conference at the end of a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague. Borel said a significant increase in border crossings from Russia to neighboring states since mid-July necessitated the suspension of the visa facilitation agreement.
“SECURITY RISK”
“This has become a danger to the security of these neighboring states,” he added. “In addition, we have seen many Russians traveling for leisure and shopping as if there was no war raging in Ukraine.” More than a million Russian citizens have entered the bloc through land border crossings since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, most of them through Finland and Estonia, the bloc’s border agency Frontex said. read more Ukraine has repeatedly said that ordinary Russians must also pay for the invasion, which has killed thousands of civilians, according to the United Nations, and leveled cities. Its foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, earlier on Wednesday repeated calls for an EU visa ban, saying it would be “an appropriate response to Russia’s aggressive genocidal war in the heart of Europe which is supported by the vast majority of Russian citizens”. read more But France and Germany disagreed. “We caution against extensive restrictions on our visa policy to avoid feeding the Russian narrative and causing unintended contractions around the effects of the flag and/or alienating future generations,” they said in a joint statement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold, Jason Hovet, Bart Meijer, Gabriela Baczynska. Ingrid Melander writes. Editing by John Chalmers and Nick Macfie Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
title: “Eu Complicates Travel Rules For Russians But Denies Visa Ban Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-21” author: “Jacqueline Sparrow”
PRAGUE, Aug 31 (Reuters) – EU foreign ministers decided on Wednesday to make it more expensive and time-consuming for Russians to obtain visas to travel to the bloc, but did not agree to an EU-wide visa ban that Ukraine and many Member States had requested. The EU was too divided to agree at this stage on a blanket ban and also left unclear what unilateral measures could be taken by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland, which share land borders with Russia. to restrict access to Russian visitors. These five countries hailed the suspension of Russia’s visa facilitation agreement as a “necessary first step” but stressed that more needed to be done to “drastically” limit the number of visas issued and Russians traveling to block since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up “Until such measures are in place at the EU level, we will consider introducing at national level temporary visa ban or border crossing restrictions for Russian citizens holding EU visas in order to address imminent public security issues.” they said in a joint statement. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said the EU’s executive committee would indeed consider ways to go further, including what might be done with what Lipavsky said were some 12 million Schengen visas already issued for Russians – referring to zone of 26 countries of open borders. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell argued that suspending the visa facilitation agreement would already have a real impact in itself. “This will significantly reduce the number of new visas issued by EU member states. It will be more difficult, it will take longer,” he told a news conference at the end of a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague. Borel said a significant increase in border crossings from Russia to neighboring states since mid-July necessitated the suspension of the visa facilitation agreement.
“SECURITY RISK”
“This has become a danger to the security of these neighboring states,” he added. “In addition, we have seen many Russians traveling for leisure and shopping as if there was no war raging in Ukraine.” More than a million Russian citizens have entered the bloc through land border crossings since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, most of them through Finland and Estonia, the bloc’s border agency Frontex said. read more Ukraine has repeatedly said that ordinary Russians must also pay for the invasion, which has killed thousands of civilians, according to the United Nations, and leveled cities. Its foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, earlier on Wednesday repeated calls for an EU visa ban, saying it would be “an appropriate response to Russia’s aggressive genocidal war in the heart of Europe which is supported by the vast majority of Russian citizens”. read more But France and Germany disagreed. “We caution against extensive restrictions on our visa policy to avoid feeding the Russian narrative and causing unintended contractions around the effects of the flag and/or alienating future generations,” they said in a joint statement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold, Jason Hovet, Bart Meijer, Gabriela Baczynska. Ingrid Melander writes. Editing by John Chalmers and Nick Macfie Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
