Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics appealed to the EU to impose a ban on issuing tourist visas for Russian citizens and to recognize the Russian Federation as a "sponsor of terrorism."

He wrote about this on his Twitter page. 

“The EU should consider Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, and I again propose to introduce a ban on the issuance of tourist visas to EU countries for Russian citizens,” he said.

Recall that the proposal of the head of the Latvian Foreign Ministry to the EU to consider Russia a state sponsor of terrorism followed after a resolution with the same name was adopted in the US Senate.

Earlier, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu made a proposal to introduce pan-European restrictions on the entry of Russian tourists to the EU countries.

According to him, he intends to put forward the same initiative in August, at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague.

“The entry of Russian citizens to Europe should be closed, and Estonia will make this proposal,” Reinsalu was quoted by the ERR portal.

“My call to countries in our region, especially those bordering Russia, is to stop issuing tourist visas.”

It is worth noting that on July 28, Tallinn decided to limit the issuance of temporary residence permits and study visas to citizens of the Russian Federation.

As Reinsalu noted, quoted by the press service of the Estonian government, such measures are necessary "for relentless pressure on Russia."


"More and More Irrational Decisions"

  • Schengen visa

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Recall that the desire to block Russian citizens from entering the EU in Europe started talking immediately after the start of Russia's special operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine.

On February 24, such a proposal was made, in particular, by the Belgian Minister for Refugees Sammy Mahdi.

Later, at the end of March, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki made a similar statement.

In addition, a number of states immediately got down to business: they suspended the issuance of visas to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Czech Republic. 

In a conversation with reporters on July 26, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted the possibility of Europe completely refusing to issue visas to Russians.

However, according to him, this will inevitably entail a response from Moscow.

“We cannot rule out some actions of such an emotional nature that will not fit into the understanding of sound judgment,” Peskov said, adding that this “would entail response variations from Moscow.”

According to him, Western countries, in particular the EU states, are running out of an arsenal of measures that they think can put pressure on Russia.

“And more and more irrational, unreasonable, inexplicable decisions are being made,” said the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation.

The director of the consular department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Ivan Volynkin, also did not rule out the possibility that Europe would refuse to issue Schengen visas to Russian citizens.

“We are already seeing a virtually complete suspension of visa processing for Russian citizens in the consular offices of Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Estonia located in Russia.

And in the event of a radical degradation of consular ties with other countries - members of the Schengen Agreement, even seemingly improbable scenarios cannot be ruled out, ”Volynkin said in an interview with TASS.

In turn, the European Commission (EC), in response to a request from the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, reported on July 28 that EU rules do not completely prohibit the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens.

As noted in the EC, it should always be possible to issue visa documents to certain groups of people, in particular journalists.

At the same time, the European Commission stressed that the EU member states can independently make decisions on the issuance of short-term Schengen visas and consider each application on an individual basis.

"Center for Anti-Russian Policy"

As Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation Nikita Danyuk, noted, despite the statements of the European Commission about the impossibility of introducing a complete ban on the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians in the EU, such a measure cannot be ruled out, since in Brussels “the level of Russophobia and desire to harm Russia.

“And the Baltics are the center of the anti-Russian policy of the EU.

It is there that absolutely false Russophobic ideas are put forward, which then one way or another become mainstream in Europe.

Although now the EC is talking about the impossibility of such a ban, after a while they may simply change their minds, as was the case, for example, with Nord Stream 2: at first, the EU intended to launch it, then one by one they began to introduce energy packages that change the rules gas supplies, and then completely refused to put the gas pipeline into operation, ”said Danyuk in an interview with RT.

In his opinion, Latvia and Estonia, which are now in favor of a ban on the issuance of tourist visas to Russians, thus want to harm Russia, since they cannot do damage to the Russian Federation in any other way.

“These countries cannot do anything concrete either in the economy or in politics that could somehow hit Russia, so they are forced to promote Russophobic ideas about visa restrictions,” the analyst noted.

  • Russian Foreign Ministry

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At the same time, Danyuk believes that such statements by Rinkevich, as well as his proposal by the EU to recognize Russia as a sponsor of terrorism, were not accidental immediately after Gazprom's decision to cut off gas supplies to Latvia.

“Such an attempt to take revenge on the Russian Federation for its more than legitimate steps fully fits into the Russophobic course of Riga and confirms its desire to once again declare itself in the information space,” the expert said.

As for Rinkevich's words about recognizing Russia as a sponsor of terrorism, in this way Latvia is trying to introduce the US initiative in the EU to attach this label to the Russian Federation in order to "curry favor with Washington," Danyuk believes.

“Riga is trying to lobby this idea in Europe as a conductor of US interests within the European Union.

This is an attempt to further synchronize EU policy with Washington's course.

Perhaps the United States did not even ask Latvia about this, but for Riga this is another reason to recall its loyalty and obedience to the curator, ”the analyst said.

In addition, Brussels has practically exhausted all sanctions against the Russian Federation, and now, in the conditions of total Russophobia, any anti-Russian decisions can be made, Danyuk believes.

“However, we should not forget that, for example, the introduction of more stringent visa restrictions for Russians will lead to a colossal blow to the tourism sector of a number of EU countries, for which the Russian tourist is very important,” the expert emphasized.

Nikolai Mezhevich, president of the Baltic Studies Association, holds a similar position.

According to him, the tightening of the EU visa policy in relation to Russian citizens will deal a serious blow to the EU countries, where many Russian tourists traditionally come.

“Visa restrictions for Russians in EU countries are already hurting the tourism sector.

And the expansion of such measures will lead to a disastrous result both for the Baltic countries and for other European countries, for which tourists from the Russian Federation are a serious source of income, ”Mezhevich said in a conversation with RT.

Recall, according to the estimates of the European Travel Commission (ETC), the decline in the flow of Russian tourists to the EU will have a negative impact primarily on such EU countries as Cyprus, Latvia, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania.

In addition, as reported in the structure, it is the citizens of the Russian Federation that often have high expenses during their holidays in Europe.

At the same time, ETC emphasizes that European states, whose economies are highly dependent on Russian tourists, should not expect a quick recovery.

According to Mezhevich, possible new visa restrictions will increase unemployment in the service sector in the EU, which is not at all in the national interests of the EU countries.

“Squeezing a Russian tourist out of the EU will not lead to anything good for European states.

Already now in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, many hotels are on the verge of bankruptcy, the same situation is observed in other European countries.

If we add to this a complete ban on the entry of Russian tourists into the EU, as well as a new wave of COVID-19, then tourism in the European Union will soon have to order mourning music, ”the analyst believes.

In turn, the tightening of the EU visa policy “will not cause critical damage to Russia,” Mezhevich believes.

“Against the backdrop of the current EU restrictions, Russians already want to get to know their own country better.

And in social networks, voices are increasingly heard about the need to fence themselves off from the “values” of the so-called civilized West, ”concluded the expert.