Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas said that it is necessary to stop issuing visas to Russian tourists. She wrote about it on her Twitter page.
“Stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right. Air communication with Russia is closed. This means that while the Schengen countries issue visas, the burden is borne by Russia's neighbors – Finland, Estonia, Latvia – the only points of access. It is time to stop tourism from Russia now.”
The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with The Washington Post that Western countries should ban all Russians from entering their territory. In his opinion, this is how the West can prevent Russia from annexing the territory of Ukraine:
“The most important sanctions are the closure of the borders, because the Russians are taking away foreign land.”
According to Zelensky, Russians should “live in their own world until they change their philosophy”: “Whatever Russians… let them go to Russia.” He added that the entire population should be held responsible for the war, as they chose this government and "do not fight it, do not argue with it, do not shout at it."
“Don’t you need this isolation? You tell the whole world that it must live by your rules. Then go and live there. This is the only way to influence Putin.”
Earlier, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin also said that the issuance of tourist visas to Russians should be limited, and called for a ban on all EU countries.
On July 28, Estonia stopped issuing a temporary residence permit (permit) and visas for studying to Russian citizens. The government has also amended the already imposed sanctions: now citizens of Russia and Belarus will be able to register short-term work in Estonia only if they have an Estonian visa.
The European Commission (EC) emphasized that it is impossible to ban the issuance of tourist visas to all Russians: this is not allowed by the visa rules of the European Union. It should always be possible to grant visas to certain groups: family members of EU citizens, journalists and dissidents.
