Several European countries want a visa ban for Russian tourists
by Mike Glenn · The Washington TimesAlmost a dozen European countries want the European Commission to crack down on the number of Schengen visas awarded to Russian citizens in light of Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
A Schengen visa is an entry permit that lets non-EU nationals travel freely for up to 90 days across the 29 participating European countries without any internal border controls.
Russians received almost 480,000 Schengen visas in 2025, according to a Thursday letter to EU Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas from the foreign ministers of 11 European countries, including Poland, Latvia, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania.
The letter, obtained by the Polish news outlet RMF24, argues that Russian tourists should not use European resorts while the Kremlin’s aggression against Ukraine continues.
“The growing number of Russian tourists spending their holidays on European beaches and in European resorts, while missiles and drones continue to strike civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, is deeply disturbing,” the foreign ministers wrote.
In 2022, the European Commission tightened the rules for processing Russian visa applications. But according to the letter, the guidelines are being applied unevenly across the EU states. That lets Russians engage in “visa tourism,” where they seek out countries with more lenient entry conditions.
France, Italy, Spain and Greece grant the most tourist visas to Russians, while the Baltic states and Poland issue virtually none, according to the report by RMF24.
An official from one of the countries that signed the letter told RMF24 that countries such as Greece and Italy financially benefit from the presence of Russian tourists while frontline states are bearing the costs and risks of protecting borders against future aggression from Moscow.
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The foreign ministers want restrictions on visa applications for Russians to be enforced throughout Europe. They also want a global tightening of the visa system that will apply to all Russians regardless of their place of residence, according to RMF24.
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Mike Glenn
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