Poland-Finland and Baltic countries want to ban Russian tourists

All five of the three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and Finland – share borders with Russia. They want to ban Russian tourists because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

If the European Union (EU) does not stop issuing visas to Russian citizens in member states as a whole, the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and Finland may take measures themselves to prevent the entry of Russian tourists.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters on Tuesday.

All those five countries have borders with Russia. They want to take this measure due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.

“We’ve had ministers from all these countries talk…politically I don’t see much difference between them,” Landsbergis told a press conference in the capital, Vilnius.

All five countries are members of the EU and share a border with Russia, so they are also at risk of Russian aggression at any time after Ukraine is invaded. So they are seeking action from the EU against Russia now.

EU foreign ministers are due to meet on Monday to discuss whether to impose visa restrictions on Russian citizens across the EU, mainly to support the five countries.

The Chancellor of Germany, however, said on Monday that his country is against the imposition of such restrictions. His argument in favor of this decision is that those who oppose the Kremlin’s policies should have the opportunity to leave the country if necessary.

Several other EU countries, including Hungary, may oppose the imposition of such visa restrictions. That is why the five countries have planned a separate meeting on Monday in addition to the EU meeting, said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis.

“We need to apply similar rules to regional visa bans allowing entry to Kremlin dissidents and barring tourists,” he said.

“Russian tourists should not be allowed into the European Union their country is committing genocide in Ukraine,” he said.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU has had direct air links with Russia. Therefore, Russian tourists have to cross those five countries by road to enter the EU.

Last week, Estonia closed its borders to more than 50,000 Russian citizens who had previously been granted visas, Reuters reported. Estonia is the first EU country to close its borders to Russian citizens. As a result, it has become difficult for ordinary Russian citizens to enter EU countries.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western countries to impose a mass travel ban on all Russian citizens, prompting an angry response from Moscow.