The cancellation of Schengen visas for two Russian citizens on the border with Estonia is a signal for the Russians that “no need to poke their noses” at this border. Yana Toom, a member of the European Parliament and a member of the Center Party of Latvia, told The Insider about this. At the same time, one of the Russians, Svetlana, in a conversation with The Insider, said that the lack of a return ticket was just an excuse to cancel the Schengen visa, as she offered the border guards to buy it online right on the spot.
Svetlana said that she was transiting through Estonia to Riga on August 14: she has a Greek, not an Estonian visa, and according to EU rules, she could cross the border. At the same time, new rules on a partial entry ban for Russian citizens with Schengen visas issued by Estonia came into force on August 18. Svetlana claims that she was heading to her boyfriend, an EU citizen (the couple is not officially married).
The refusal of entry is not related to her political position, since Svetlana claims that she never expressed an opinion on social networks about the war in Ukraine “neither way nor the other” and no one asked questions about it at the border. The border guards asked why Svetlana was going to return to Russia only at the end of September and why she had no return tickets. They took the passport, after which a girl approached the Russian woman, asked her to go with her, took her into the room and told her to put the suitcase on the table. The employees checked all the bags, purse and were indignant that she had no money. Svetlana replied that they were looking badly and showed the money that was in her bag: euros, dollars, rubles and all bank statements on the purchase of foreign currency. According to her, there were 500 euros in the bag, from which it was clear that she was traveling for about a week.
Also in the bag were documents and contracts of four companies. The Russian woman said that she simply “needed to hand over” the original documents. She is engaged in business, she and her lover have a common company, which is now not operating due to sanctions. According to her, among the documents was an “agency contract for the provision of services” by Russian suppliers of building materials and processed wood. Svetlana claims that the contracts were not of particular interest to employees, she showed correspondence in Whatsapp with her lover and co-owner of the company, where, according to her, there were not working moments, but “personal”.
After that, Svetlana waited for a long time (the proceedings took about three hours), as a result, she was given a passport with a crossed out visa and a document stating that she did not have tickets confirming her return. She offered to buy a ticket online, she had money on the card. However, this option did not suit the employees:
“This is not a confirmation, this is a piece of paper. We have already canceled your visa."
Svetlana was indignant, saying that she had a Greek visa and they should have let her in, but in response, according to her, they began to shout at her and demand to sign a document. The staff said:
“You understand everything, you pretend that you do not understand, and you will not leave here until you sign this document.”
She was required to sign a paper refusing to issue and cancel a visa on the grounds that there were no relevant documents confirming the legitimacy of the purposes of the visit and the conditions of the flight. At the same time, Svetlana stressed that she had a regular tourist visa. Three hours later, she nevertheless signed the document, after which she was released and explained that she could appeal the decision within 30 days. Svetlana is going to turn to a lawyer for advice. She plans to find out if it makes sense to appeal the decision, since, in her opinion, now “visas are being denied without exception.”
Another Russian woman, Ekaterina, had her five-year Schengen visa revoked due to “suspicions of currency smuggling.”
MEP, Latvian Center Party member Jana Toom, commenting to The Insider on the situation with two Russian women facing visa cancellations, explained:
“I think this is the creation of public opinion, such a signal to the Russians: there is no need to poke your nose at this border, because we are such unpredictable Estonian guys here. I think it will work. And the second option: perhaps one of these girls had their visas canceled because there were some careless statements on social networks.”
Toom recalled that entry into the EU is very strictly regulated by laws: there is a visa code that clearly indicates the possible reasons for refusing a visa. There is no citizenship of any country in this list, so everything that goes beyond the list is automatically won in the European Court of Justice. There is also the Schengen Code, which does not provide for a "general refusal of visas on the basis of citizenship," the MEP stressed. According to this code, additional control can be established at the border (what the head of the Estonian Foreign Ministry is talking about), but this assumes that “cordons will be set up everywhere and everyone’s documents will be checked.” Toom also explained that the situation was similar during the pandemic, but it is impossible to compare the current situation with the epidemic:
“The Foreign Minister says that countries can do this because they did this during the pandemic. But the pandemic cannot be compared to this situation: the Schengen Code clearly states that such things are possible if there is a threat to the safety or health of the population. Crossing borders by Russians is neither. So all that's left is to revoke their own visas, which they do, that's what they have the right to do."
In addition, the MEP stressed that the EU is guided by an individual approach in issuing visas. Any country has the right to selectively cancel visas, which is what both the Schengen and visa codes say:
“Therefore, you can find fault with every second person, and nothing will happen for it. But if they find fault with every first one, then they will violate both of these legislative acts.
Estonia has stopped issuing Schengen visas to Russian citizens since August 18. You can only enter the republic with a visa issued by another EU country. On August 9, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that visiting Europe is not a right, but a privilege, and called for an end to the issuance of tourist visas to Russians. On July 28, Estonia stopped issuing temporary residence permits and study visas to Russian citizens.
Prior to this, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania stopped issuing Schengen visas to Russians. Denmark and the Netherlands have stopped issuing short-stay visas. Finland announced that it will reduce the issuance of tourist visas to Russian citizens from September 1 by ten times. At the same time, Germany opposed the ban on issuing visas to Russian citizens. After the decisions and calls of some countries, the representative of the European Commission, Anitta Hipper, once again stated that the European Union will not completely stop issuing Schengen visas to Russians. They will continue to be issued for humanitarian reasons.