Polish deputy FM urges stricter EU visa rules for Russians

A Polish deputy foreign minister said on Monday that the European Union should introduce more restrictive visa rules for Russian citizens over Moscow’s nearly six-month-old war in Ukraine.

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel SękPhoto: Polish Radio 24/MS

Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk told public broadcaster Polish Radio that a growing number of European countries were „leaning toward favoring a decision to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians and to radically limit the issuance of visas.”

He added that Poland „introduced a very restrictive visa policy regime immediately after Russia invaded” Ukraine in late February.

Szynkowski vel Sęk said: „We have limited the issuance of visas to humanitarian situations … We have limited the issuance of such visas by about 80 percent.”

He added: „We demand that a restrictive policy be introduced at the EU level to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians.”

Szynkowski vel Sęk argued that „visas are mainly used by wealthy Russians who live in large cities and who often vocally support Putin’s policies.”

He told Polish Radio that the EU should „withdraw the special privileges it granted Russia” under a special visa facilitation agreement in the 1990s.

„This agreement has to be terminated,” Szynkowski vel Sęk declared. „We are strongly in favor of such a step.”

Another Polish deputy foreign minister, Piotr Wawrzyk, said earlier this month that Poland was „working to develop rules to allow the refusal of visas” to Russian citizens, state news agency PAP reported.

Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Denmark are among countries that have already instituted tourist visa bans for Russians, according to the PAP news agency.

Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, last week called on EU member states to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian tourists.

His appeal came after fellow Baltic nation Estonia moved to bar Russians with tourist visas from entering the country, according to a report at the time.

„It’d be perfect if the whole EU made a decision to rescind the visas, and no one would be issuing them any longer,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis was quoted as saying last Wednesday.

He warned that Russian citizens could easily find their way around the ban unless all EU countries joined forces, the Polish state news agency reported.

Earlier this month, the Czech Republic, which is presiding over the EU until the end of the year, said that a Europe-wide ban could be imposed on tourist visas for Russians to complement the existing set of sanctions against Moscow, according to the PAP news agency.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP

Radio Poland