Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday that he will ask European colleagues to stop any actions that can escalate the crisis in Ukraine
BUDAPEST (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2022) Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday that he will ask European colleagues to stop any actions that can escalate the crisis in Ukraine.
"A the meeting of the EU foreign ministers today I will ask that we finally reject the proposals that entail the threat of further escalation... and that we focus on establishing peace in Europe," Szijjarto said ahead of the informal ministerial meeting in Prague.
Later in the day, Szijjarto said that an introduction of a visa ban on Russians is untimely.
"I do not think that the visa ban is an appropriate decision under the current circumstances," the Hungarian foreign minister said upon arrival at the EU ministerial meeting.
Calls have been mounting for the European Commission to ban Russian tourists from entering the EU's borderless area in response to the Russian special operation in Ukraine. In late July, Estonia proposed that Brussels block Russian citizens from entering Europe at the bloc level. Prior to that, the EU commission said that EU countries cannot completely stop issuing Schengen visas to Russian citizens, adding that member states could decide for themselves on the issuance of short-term Schengen visas and consider each application on an individual basis.
Some EU countries, including the Czech Republic, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland and the Netherlands, have already limited the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens. France and Germany have so far refused to back the initiative, though Berlin made a decision to suspend its travel agreement with Moscow.
