Steven N.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently proposed that the European Union ban Russian tourists from entering its territory, meaning the EU would stop issuing Schengen visas to them. The prime ministers of Estonia and Finland have given their support to the idea, and several other EU member states indicated that they would consider the proposal.
However, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that he did not support this type of visa ban.
While Hungary has not yet officially commented on the issue, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó expressed his opinion on it in his latest Facebook post, which concerned discussions with his Estonian counterpart and the Russian energy embargo. In that post, Szijjártó wrote:
We also talked about the proposal that would make it harder to issue European visas to Russian citizens. We sympathize with the position of the German chancellor on this matter and do not plan to make it harder or introduce any restrictions.
Russian news agencies have repeated Minister Szijjártó’s position.
News reports have said that European Union foreign ministers would discuss the issue at the end of August. [444]
Because more han 300.000 Russian citizens live and work in the EU, a ban on entry from Russia is a difficult and problematic decision.
You are correct Michael. Additionally, the complete ban of Russian “tourists” is problematic in terms of strengthening Putin’s hold. I was not banned from Europe during the American intervention in Viet Nam nor were other Americans. That alone allowed many Americans to gain another perspective. Hopefully, that might happen with Russians.