Russian border member states argue to limit access to its citizens to the EU. A subject that will be debated in Prague, where the chiefs of diplomacy of the twenty-seven meet from Tuesday.
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Could Russian nationals soon be prohibited from entering European territory? The question will be debated from Tuesday, August 30 by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union (EU), gathered in Prague for two days. The idea of a ban by Russian citizens, put forward by several countries, including the Baltic States and Poland, is however far from unanimous, and the twenty-seven could fall back on a compromise solution, proposed Initially by Helsinki.
Finland, which shares 1,340 km of borders with Russia, wishes to suspend the agreement facilitating the issuance of short -stay visas, signed between the EU and Moscow in 2007. Some of its arrangements had already been canceled after The start of the war in Ukraine on February 24, including the exemption from visas for Russian diplomats. Finland wants to go further and revoke the agreement, which provides in particular an accelerated procedure for the processing of files and cost relief (35 euros instead of 80 euros).
“The government does not advocate a total entry prohibition in the territory for the moment, because we do not think it is compatible with the Schengen agreement”, specifies Jussi Tanner, Director General of Consular Services at the Ministry Finnish Foreign Affairs. Helsinki would not be opposed to the principle, but such a decision “requires amending Schengen’s acquis, which is a legislative process, which must be initiated by the European Commission and supported by the Council and the Parliament” , Comments Mr. Tanner.
Without delay the outcome of the discussions in Prague, Finland has already announced provisions to try to limit the access of Russian tourists to its territory. From the 1 du September, the meetings in its four consular offices in Russia and the centers to which it subcontracts the reception of visa requests will be reduced by half, going from 1,000 to 500 per week. A system of quotas will also be set up: tourist visa requests can only be made on Monday; The other days will be reserved for the Russians who have family and friends in Finland, work or follow studies there.
Afflux of Russian tourists
With this device, which will reduce the requests for tourist visas by 90 %, the Finnish government wants to “point out that things cannot continue normally, while Russia waged a war of aggression against international law in Ukraine, “explains Jussi Tanner.
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