Entry ban for Russians in the Schengen area?
Scholz disagrees as an EU and NATO partner
Created: 08/14/2022, 08:10
By: Linus Prien
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz © IMAGO/Emmanuele Contini
An entry ban for Russians in the Schengen area is being discussed in several European countries.
Scholz's skepticism has met with criticism.
Berlin/ Tallinn - The Ukraine war has consequences for Russian citizens.
According to Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, the demand that Russian tourists should no longer be issued Schengen visas for the EU has hit a sore spot in Moscow.
The sharp reaction of members of the Russian power elite to the calls for an entry ban shows that it is an effective sanctions instrument, Kallas told Estonian radio on Friday.
Despite reservations from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Estonia wants to continue to campaign for a general ban on tourist visas in the EU.
Other EU countries such as the Czech Republic and Finland have also spoken out in favor of a ban.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj also spoke in favor of a travel ban for Russian citizens in the Schengen area.
Ukraine News: Entry ban for Russians?
- Estonia is determined
The government in Estonia's capital, Tallinn, decided on Thursday that from August 18, Russian citizens would no longer be allowed to enter the country with a Schengen visa issued by Estonia.
“One has to understand that only 10 percent of the Russian population travels abroad, and it is precisely these people, mostly from Moscow and St. Petersburg, whose opinion counts.
This is also shown by Russia's very painful reactions to this proposal," Kallas said, referring to a tweet by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who attacked her for calling for a visa ban.
“It shows that this is the Achilles' heel.
It's something they're really scared of, so it's effective," said the Estonian leader.
Entry ban for Russians?: “Russia cannot currently be overthrown from within”
However, there are also voices critical of Russia who oppose an entry ban.
Ira Lobanovskaya helps Russians leave the country and sees a danger in a travel ban: “They [Russians] must unite abroad and create anti-war community that is responsible.
A nuclear power like Russia cannot currently be overthrown from within.
That would just be unrealistic.” But she also understands that Europeans don't want partying Russians in their countries, as she told Britain's
Guardian
.
Journalist Anton Barbashin also shared Lobanovskaya's view.
The possibility of traveling to the Schengen area is a security mechanism for Russians, who are already threatened with repression by the Russian state: "A visa ban will limit the opportunities for critics of the regime to get to safety if they have to."
Ukraine News: Scholz against ban on tourist visas for Russian citizens - Klitschko criticizes Chancellor
Chancellor Scholz rejected a general ban on tourist visas on Thursday.
"This is Putin's war, and that's why I have a hard time with this idea," he said in Berlin.
Scholz referred to the "very far-reaching sanctions" against Russia because of the war against Ukraine.
According to Scholz, it would weaken the effectiveness of the sanctions "if they were directed against everyone, including the innocent".
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Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko has criticized Scholz for refusing to stop issuing visas to Russians.
"Russian citizens are fighting in Ukraine, torturing and killing peaceful Ukrainians and children, destroying our cities and villages," wrote the 51-year-old on social networks after a phone conversation with his Berlin colleague Franziska Giffey.
The majority of Russian citizens would support "Putin's policies and his bloody imperial ambitions," Klitschko said in justifying his call for a freeze on issuing visas.
(lp/dpa)
