Germany is unlikely to agree on a complete ban on issuing visas to Russians at the EU level.
The Government of Finland has announced a reduction in visas for Russians 10 times because of the ongoing war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, the BBC reports. The corresponding decision was made on August 16.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Pekka Haavisto, announced that from September 1, Finland will accept only 10% of visa applications from Russian tourists. That's about 100 applications a day, compared to about 1,000 before the restrictions were introduced. Journalists and dissidents will be able to count on exceptions.
Haavisto also said that Finland, together with the three Baltic countries, will propose a draft joint EU decision on visas for Russians during the upcoming meeting of foreign ministers at the end of August. He repeated the call of the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, for a common EU position on this issue.
Dissatisfaction is growing in Finland with Russians who, in order to circumvent sanctions on flights to the EU, fly to EU resorts via Helsinki.< /p>
Let us remind you that the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Poland practically stopped issuing visas to Russians in order to increase pressure on Moscow.
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For his part, the Chancellor of Germany < Olaf Scholz stated that banning the entry of Russians would make life difficult for Russian dissidents, although he did not rule out the very possibility of a discussion on this issue.
