Abolition of Schengen visas for citizens of Russia?

The Baltic States were not a travel destination for Russians for months anyway. Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia no longer issue tourist visas to Russian citizens. Latvia has gone a step further and recently allows entry into the country only in case of the death of a close relative

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Illustration, Photo: Shutterstock
Illustration, Photo: Shutterstock
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Will Russian citizens soon no longer be able to obtain Schengen visas? While this is increasingly being demanded in the European Union, thousands of Russian tourists are using Finland as a transit country for traveling to the West.

My acquaintance Artjom loves Finland: beautiful lakes, kind people, clean air. He knows that country, he often goes there. Artyom lives in St. Petersburg and uses the simplified visa regime of the Finnish consulate in his hometown, which has been in place for years. Even now, after the direct air route to the EU is closed to Russians. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, European skies have been closed to Russian planes and vice versa, and EU planes are no longer allowed to fly to Russia.

That's why Artyom goes by car. To Helsinki and back every few weekends, almost 400 kilometers. The one-way drive takes about five hours. It is usually faster if you drive only to Lapenranta, the next largest Finnish city near the Russian border.

No rest for Russians in the EU

But, unlike my acquaintance Artyom, thousands of other Russian tourists do not return. At least not right away. Many of them drive straight from the border to Helsinki-Vantaa airport to fly further west. Since the beginning of the year, Russians have submitted almost 60.000 requests for Finnish visas, Finnish media have calculated. Most of the Schengen visa applicants came from St. Petersburg. And it is precisely this gateway to Europe that worries many Europeans now. The argument goes: while Moscow is bombing Ukrainian cities, Russian citizens cannot possibly enjoy their summer holidays in the West.

The Baltic States were not a travel destination for Russians for months anyway. Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia no longer issue tourist visas to Russian citizens. Latvia has gone a step further and recently allows entry into the country only in case of the death of a close relative.

The prime ministers of Finland and Estonia recently called on other European countries to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. In Finland, 58 percent of the population no longer wants tourist visas for Russians, according to a survey by public television "Yle".

The EU is still discussing visas for Russians

Schengen visas for Russians will be the topic of the European Union foreign ministers' meeting in Prague at the end of August. The European Union has 27 member states, not all of which belong to the 26-member Schengen area. Four countries, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, which also issue Schengen visas, are not members of the European Union at all.

Dmitriy Lanko from the Department of European Studies of St. Petersburg State University sees nothing less than "everyday nationalism" in the current discussion. In an interview with DW, he criticizes "the tendency to punish all Russians". The category of "Russians" includes not only ethnic Russians, he claims, but also "Tatars, Chechens and representatives of all peoples of the Russian Federation without exception, including Ukrainians living in Russia."

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas added fuel to the fire and tweeted: "Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right." Her words are met with a great deal of misunderstanding in Russia. The spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Marija Zakharova, assessed that it was "nonsense" coming from "Estonian fantasists". Zakharova joked like this on Telegram: "It's a real privilege to be lucky enough to see Russia in all its diversity and magnificence."

Don't fight tourists "because of geopolitics"

For Alexander Gorokhov from the Union of Russian Tourist Organizations "Sonato", this exchange of blows represents an "emotional outpouring". He reminds DW that Russian tourists bring money, even if it is transit tourism. "In my opinion, those countries should fight to turn that flow of transit tourists into a real tourist flow with overnight stays, etc." Gorokhov advocates pragmatic solutions: one should not fight against tourists "because of geopolitics".

My acquaintance Artyom from St. Petersburg doesn't want to "fall into the clinch of geopolitics" either, especially since neither he nor his friends ever voted for Vladimir Putin. However, he is understanding about the possible visa ban. Artjom is planning a new, short weekend trip to Lapenrant. As long as possible.

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