EU entry rules for Russians: visa facilitation suspended from Monday?

Entry into the EU could become more difficult for Russians from Monday: the EU Commission has officially proposed lifting visa facilitation. The member states are expected to agree this week.

Although the war against Ukraine has been going on for more than six months, most Russian citizens still have easier entry conditions into the European Union. The reason: an agreement on visa facilitation – it dates back to 2007, when there were still signs of relaxation between Moscow and the Europeans. Now the EU wants to draw a line and suspend visa facilitation for Russians.

At the moment there is no longer any basis for trust, said the EU interior commissioner, Ylva Johansson, who is responsible for entry. Russians shouldn’t be able to enter the country so easily, she says – for example, if they come as tourists, for shopping or for pleasure.

Because planes from Russia are no longer allowed to land in the EU, most Russians travel overland, using local border traffic via Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It is these countries that actually demanded an even stricter course, a complete entry ban for all Russians. But it shouldn’t come to that.

“Stay open to those in need of protection”

“We will make sure that we remain open to those in need of protection,” said Home Affairs Commissioner Johansson. For Russian journalists, regime critics and human rights activists, for example, but also for students and Russians who want to visit their families in the West.

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had campaigned for this. Europe must maintain contact with all Russians who do not expressly side with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Green politician said at the foreign ministers’ meeting in Prague last week and received a lot of approval. There is no complete visa ban for Russians, but the member countries have more room for maneuver when issuing residence permits.

Given the security situation, consulates should carefully check whether applicants could pose a threat to public order or a member country’s international relations, Johansson said. Then every member country would have to have the opportunity to reject a visa application, and the Commission still wants to provide guidelines for the assessment.

Step has yet to be approved

According to the Brussels Commission, there are currently around 960,000 Russians with a valid visa in the EU’s Schengen area. The abolition of visa facilitation still has to be approved by the 27 member countries, which is expected to happen later this week.

Interior Commissioner Johansson expects that from next Monday the visa facilitation agreement concluded with Russia in 2007 will no longer be valid. In any case, Russians will then have to pay more for the usual 90-day visa – instead of the previous 35 euros, there is talk of at least 80 euros per visa. And they also have to be prepared for significantly longer waiting times.

According to Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock, this is already the case when Russian citizens apply for a visa at German diplomatic missions. According to Baerbock, Germany had to significantly reduce the staff in the embassy and in the consulates in Russia, for this reason alone far fewer visas are issued than before the war against Ukraine.