London 24 August : UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has rejected the idea of an all-encompassing prohibition on visas for Russians however, he insisted that “we can enlarge the requirements”. “I definitely think we could improve the conditions of our visas.I’m not sure if banning all visas is the correct method,” dpa news agency quoted Wallace as telling the BBC
“I believe that’s an issue that the Home Secretary should consider.However, I don’t enjoy I’m sure that nobody of your viewers enjoy watching wives of oligarchs or in fact Russian wives of senior officials having fun in Greece or in the south of France or on super yachts all over the globe while their military commits crime against humanity in Ukraine,” he stated.
“I believe that’s incorrect.I think the issue has been going all from 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea and illegally annexed it and then allowed in certain countries to go the same way as if nothing had actually changed.”
In the aftermath of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine In the wake of Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia, a number of European countries have announced restrictions on visas for tourists for Russians.
This week, Estonia announced that it will stop issuing visas to Russian citizens, and will prohibit access to Russian citizens who have Estonian-issued tourism business, sports, or cultural visas.
But, Russian nationals with a visa issued by one of the other Schengen countries or currently in the Schengen zone will be able to travel to Estonia.
Even though Lithuania has already stopped issuing visas and residency permits to Russians, Finland is also increasing the requirements for visas.
The Czech Republic is also limiting Russian visas.Denmark has demanded an European Union (EU)-wide stance on bans on travel visas to Russians.
Sweden is still to decide what its position will be while Norway is in favor of any joint action of the EU.
However, Germany is concerned that restricting visas will stop refugees from leaving Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government.
