Before the war in Ukraine (and before corona) you probably encountered Russians at your holiday destination. But since February 24 this year, the day the Russians invaded Ukraine, the chances of that should be a lot smaller. Would, because that is not always the case in practice, to the chagrin of Estonia and Finland.
1. What do politicians in Estonia and Finland say?
The Estonian Foreign Minister makes no mistake about it. “It is remarkable how masses of Russian tourists can visit the Louvre during the school holidays, while children are being murdered in Ukraine.” And Estonia’s prime minister says: “Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right.”
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Finally, the Prime Minister of Finland: “It is not fair that while Russia is waging an aggressive and brutal war in Europe, Russians can have a normal life, travel in Europe and be tourists.” And so both countries believe that the European Union should stop issuing tourist visas to Russians.
2. Why are those tourist visas such a hot topic?
You might be thinking: huh? Hadn’t sanctions been imposed against Russia soon after the start of the war, including in the field of air and rail traffic? Correct. It has not been possible for Russians to fly to Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin and many other European cities for six months now. The same goes for the train.
But the car or bus, that’s no problem. Russia borders the EU countries Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. If Russians drive to an airport in one of those countries, they can continue to fly to the rest of the European Union.
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The above only applies if they have a tourist visa. If they have this, they can travel without any problem between the countries that are members of the Schengen zone. Most EU countries are members of this, including the Netherlands.
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Now Russians do not necessarily have to apply for that visa at one of their EU neighboring countries. Suppose the Netherlands, France or Germany grant a visa to a Russian, then countries such as Finland and Estonia cannot simply stop the Russian in question at the border. And that means that the Russian can continue his way towards the French, Italian or Spanish Riviera.
3. And do they come?
It looks like it. Especially since Russia also relaxed its own corona restrictions last month. Since then, the number of Russians crossing the Finnish border has increased by 30 percent compared to the spring.
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Some cross the border because they have received a visa from Finland itself. At present there is no legal basis in Finland to refuse entry to someone on the basis of nationality. In addition, there are a lot of Russians who have received a visa from a completely different EU country.
4. Where could you meet Russians?
Before we make a tour of a number of holiday countries, it is good to say that it is difficult to find out the number of Russian tourists in a country. However, there is more to say about the number of visas granted to Russians.
Starting with the Netherlands. at the NRC informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that our country has stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians since the end of April. This is mainly the result of personnel problems at the embassy. And that in turn is the result of the fact that some of the personnel have been expelled by Russia.
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Incidentally, applying for a visa to the Netherlands has been a problem before. Our country demands a vaccination certificate and we do not accept the Russian vaccine Sputnik.
That is also the reason why a French holiday should not be a problem for Russians. They do not have to show a vaccination certificate. And a trip to Germany is also an option. Between March and July of this year, Germany issued more than 14,000 visas to Russians. That is almost twice as much as in all of 2021.
It is clear from the statements of German politicians that history also plays a role. For example, an FDP politician says: “We don’t want to put up a new Iron Curtain.” And another politician in the Southgerman newspaper: “We should not make the entire Russian society suspicious. That would be unjustifiable.”
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Finally, Russians can also travel to Spain and Greece. They are not stopped there by corona restrictions either. According to the Finns, it appears that many Russians fly to those two southern European countries via their airports.
5. Will the EU respond to the Estonian-Finnish request?
In any case, the request will be discussed. EU foreign ministers are likely to discuss it at the end of this month. And it is on the agenda at the EU summit in October.
However, it seems that the EU is sticking to a visa ban for Russians on the sanctions list. A more extensive ban does not appear to be in place at the moment.
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Go visa
The above article is about celebrating holidays and issuing tourist visas. There are of course many more reasons why Russians would need a visa for Europe.
Examples are family reunions, family circumstances, people who are at political risk or who are not safe because of their sexuality. In such circumstances, a visa application is not simply rejected. Not even by countries such as the Netherlands, Finland and Estonia.
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