Baltic Countries to Ban Border Crossings for Russians With Schengen Visas
It’s about to become a lot harder for Russian nationals to travel into Europe. The EU’s Baltic countries, which share a border with Russia, are in the midst of imposing a visa ban in retaliation over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The three Baltic states, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, are working together to coordinate new travel restrictions that would prevent most Russians with Schengen visas to enter the bloc. Both Latvia’s and Estonia’s governments are expected to approve the measure by the end of the week, while the Lithuanian government on Wednesday agreed to restrict entry for Russians at its border crossings, with exceptions granted to those that are either diplomats or traveling for humanitarian reasons.
The decision still needs approval from parliament, and details surrounding the criteria for entry still need to be finalized. Russian officials have voiced their criticism about the visa ban, threatening to retaliate should the motion materialize. Since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, nearly one million Russians have legally travelled into the Schengen area, with two-thirds of those tourists entering via Estonia or Finland.
Meanwhile, last week, EU foreign ministers dissolved a 2007 agreement that expedited visa issuance to Russian nationals, making it substantially more challenging and costly for tourists to enter the bloc.
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