BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st August, 2022) The EU Foreign Affairs Council must urge countries that support banning travel visas for Russians to act rationally, considering the state of the conflict in Ukraine and its consequences, a EU Parliament member from Germany, Maximilian Krah, told Sputnik.
"I expect the Foreign Affairs Council to come up with the right decision, no suppression of visas for Russian citizens traveling in the West. I hope that everybody perceives that with the explosion of energy prices and of a potential economic crisis in Europe, we need to be rational again," Krah said.
Some of the European countries that call for stopping the issuance of travel visas for all Russians, such as Finland, Poland and the Baltic states, should not "exaggerate," the EU lawmaker added.
"There is no reason to ban all Russian citizens to travel in the West. There is already a practical ban for travels by the mere fact that air connections have been discontinued, and it is more difficult to travel from Russia to Europe: you have to commute in Istanbul or Belgrade, for example. The latter could develop a role of connecting platform with Russia. Switzerland sides with the EU for the moment, but might also review its position and allow flights to and from Russia,"� Krah said.
The politician believes that Germany has made its position clear on this issue and does not wish to escalate tensions further. Earlier in August, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he does not support the ban on the issuance of Europe's Schengen visas to Russians.
�The US State Department supports Germany's position and stated that the sanctions list of persons banned from traveling to the United States will remain limited, Krah added.
�"It is a bit astonishing in my eyes for Finland to support such a ban; the country has historically so many links with Russia. As for Poland, no surprise, and for the Baltics, the position of Latvia especially and Estonia is to be expected, but it is very disturbing: these small states have a large Russian-speaking population that they treat as second-rate citizens in Latvia at least. They can't use their own language, Russian. No tv, no Russian schools, etc... Making visits by relatives from Russia impossible would really be an escalation which is not welcome and not acceptable from a simple human rights point of view," the German lawmaker said.
Krah concluded that the escalation phase in this conflict should come to an end, however, since the EU is not longer adopting rational policies on Ukraine, it is very difficult to predict the outcome of the EU ministerial meeting and the final decision.
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, 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 Baltic and some central European states on their initiative. The issue will be on the agenda of the upcoming informal EU foreign council that will take place in Prague from August 30-31.
