Lithuanian Official Doubts That EU Will Stop Issuing Visas for Russians

Skaisgiryt? said that the probability that the EU will reach an agreement to impose visa restrictions for Russians is very low as some countries have already expressed their scepticism, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

According to LRT, Germany, as well as southern European countries, have already indicated that they do not support the idea of imposing visa restrictions for Russians.

Skaisgiryt? said for LRT that Germany and southern EU countries get a high amount of income from tourism, and thus, it is important for them that the tourism sector recovers as Russians make up a large part of the tourist population.

Additionally, she pointed out that the EU countries need a united position in order to be able to make a decision on the matter.

Lithuania was one of the first EU countries that decided to limit the issuance of Schengen visas for citizens of Russia.

Apart from Lithuania, other countries took similar decisions too. Latvia stopped issuing visas to citizens of Russia on August 1. Earlier this month, the Latvian authorities said that the cross-border deal with Russia projected to simplify the travel process between the two countries has been suspended.

Estonia has also stopped issuing Schengen visas to Russians. The decision to no longer issue visas to Russians entered into force on August 18. Apart from deciding to not issue new visas for citizens of Russia, the Estonian authorities said that they would also not permit entry into the country for Russians who already hold a visa issued by Estonia.

Additionally, Estonia is planning to refuse entry to Russians who hold Schengen visas issued by other Schengen-associated countries. Such news was announced by the Foreign Minister of Estonia, Urmas Reinslau.

The Minister said that the authorities are working on a decision that would permit prohibiting entry into the country for citizens of Russia holding a visa issued by another Schengen Area member country.

While the other EU countries are still to make a decision on the matter, the German Chancellor said that innocent Russians should not suffer Putin’s actions. He said that rather than targeting Russian citizens, the EU should impose restrictions that target Putin.