Brussels 29 Aug : The European Union’s chief of foreign policy Josep Borrell has declared that a total restriction of Russians entering the Union was “not an ideal solution” according to reports that states in the bloc were planning to terminate a visa agreement with Moscow. “I do not in favor of the halting of visas for everyone Russians,” Borrell told Austrian broadcaster ORF in an interview, as reported by dpa.
He stated that he was not convinced that cutting off contacts with Russian civilians could yield positive effects and he added that he didn’t believe that this idea could achieve the unanimity required among the member states.
Borrell stated that it was essential to review certain visa procedures to specific groups of Russians however, he did not support an all-encompassing ban.
“We need to be specific, we can’t apply a general rule,” he said, noting that he was confident there will be a balanced strategy by EU foreign ministers who are scheduled to meet in the coming weeks.
The notion of restricting Russian tourists to the EU was recently brought up after countries saw Russians visiting for summer vacations through neighbouring EU countries.
The visa granted by one country allows the right to access all 26 members of Schengen.Schengen free zone for passports.
The Financial Times had earlier reported that EU member states were working to revoke a visa facilitation deal with Russia in connection with the Ukraine conflict.
EU Foreign ministers from the EU are scheduled to provide the suspension with political support at an informal two-day meeting in Prague on Tuesday and Wednesday a British newspaper reported citing three officials who were involved in talks.
The move would broaden the suspension of partiality that was imposed in February by Russian officials in the government and business leaders to encompass civilian Russian candidates for EU visas The Financial Times said.
Suspensions result in making the EU visa process more complex and costly, as well as more bureaucratic, and also increasing the waiting time for approval in accordance with European Commission guidelines.
Additional measures to limit EU travel restrictions for Russian citizens, such as the limit on the number of EU visas that can be issued, or to ban travel completely, haven’t been determined according to the Financial Times said, citing officials involved in the talks.
The Czech Republic, Finland and Estonia after having imposed restrictions on visas for their respective countries have called for an EU-wide ban and demanded a complete ban on Russian citizens traveling within the EU.
Germany as well as the commission however have urged caution in blocking tourist visas or preventing Russian citizens from traveling to the bloc in total.Some critics have also raised humanitarian concerns.
The European Union has already slapped Russia with numerous rounds of economic and political sanctions following the February attack of Ukraine including an exclusion of Russian airlines being barred from EU airspace.
int/shs
