Paet: EU must tighten and harmonize visa rules for Russian citizens

TALLINN - Urmas Paet, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, supports the call to tighten and harmonize EU visa rules for Russian citizens.

According to Paet, it is immoral for some EU member states to allow Russian citizens to sunbathe on European beaches and enjoy weekends in European cities at a time when Russia continues to destroy Ukraine and has intensified hybrid attacks against EU member states, including Estonia.

"The war in Ukraine continues, people are dying every day. Yet, it turns out that the number of visa applications from Russian citizens and the number of visas issued by some EU countries are rapidly increasing. The fastest growth is in visas issued by France, Spain, and Italy," Paet said. "This is not right, considering that Russia has not changed its behavior. In such a situation, Russian tourists have no business being in Europe," he added.

Paet emphasized that with the peak tourist season approaching, it is high time to turn off the EU's visa taps. "The problem is that member states have different approaches to issuing visas," Paet said. "Thus, visa practices remain too fragmented and create potential security risks," he added.

"The European Commission and the member states must find a solution on how to harmonize and tighten visa rules for Russian citizens across the EU," Paet said.