Recently, the European Union has been pushing for further tightening of visa restrictions on Russian citizens, under the pretext of defending against so-called “mixed attacks”. According to a report by the Russian Satellite News Agency on October 28th, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grushko stated that even if the European Union imposes more restrictions on Russian citizens, Russia will not ban the issuance of visas to Europeans.
Grushko said, “Of course, we can come up with some restrictions, but I don’t think we will adopt any outright bans. We have never done that.” He emphasized, “If they do something foolish, we won’t do anything foolish in response.”
Previously, Finland and Estonia proposed to the European Commission to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens until the Russia-Ukraine conflict ends. Gunnar Stallemer, the Swedish Minister of Justice, revealed to the European edition of “Politiker” news website that the European Commission is preparing a proposal regarding visa restrictions, which is expected to be announced in early January 2027.
Last year, the Schengen Area, consisting of 25 EU countries along with Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, issued approximately 478,000 tourist visas to Russian citizens. Many of these visas were multiple-entry visas.
