Not one step back. Despite the intensification of the energy war, the Union maintains its pressure strategy intact and today has launched the internal legislative procedures necessary to suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Russia, as agreed last week by the foreign ministers of the Twenty seven. In parallel, Brussels has taken measures against the recognition of Russian passports issued in occupied areas of Ukraine.
"Things with Russia cannot continue as if nothing happened," the president of the community executive, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a tweet. "The EU's visa policy is a sign of trust, a trust that Russia has completely shattered with its unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. As long as Russia continues its aggression against a country that is a candidate for the EU, citizens Russians will not be able to enjoy facilities to travel to the EU," added the vice president of the community executive, Margaritis Schinas. "Once again, the EU demonstrates its seamless unity in responding to Russian military aggression."
The proposal to suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Moscow came from a group of Baltic and Nordic countries led by Estonia and Finland, in favor of closing the door completely to Russian travelers so that citizens are aware of the rejection of Europe to the policies of the Kremlin. Such a measure was discouraged by the European Commission and countries such as Germany, France and Spain, which advocated keeping bridges open with Russian civil society.
The intermediate solution was to withdraw the travel privileges that Brussels and Moscow agreed to in 2007, in a very different context, to access the Schengen zone. Specifically, the measure will translate into higher costs for visa applicants (80 euros instead of 35), longer concession periods (from 10 to 15 days, 45 in some cases) as well as the obligation to present more documents , explained the European Commission in a statement.
"Doing tourism in the EU is not a fundamental right," said the Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson. Thus, priority will be given to visas requested for humanitarian reasons compared to those requested for the purpose of tourism, explained Johansson. The new regulations will also allow member states that wish to review the validity of the hundreds of thousands of travel documents already issued and currently in force.
In parallel, Brussels has taken measures against the recognition of Russian passports issued in the Ukrainian regions occupied by the Moscow army. In recent times, the Russian government has started issuing regular passports as Russian citizens to residents of occupied areas such as the Zaporizhia and Kherson areas. The legislative proposal adopted today by the community executive orders member states not to recognize these passports as valid travel documents to enter the EU, something that some countries had begun to do on their own initiative since the Russian invasion of Crimea.
Both measures must now be approved by the Council, where member states have already expressed their support, and will enter into force after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU. "Russia continues to violate international law with its illegal military actions, committing atrocities against Ukrainians and undermining European and global security," criticized the Commissioner for the Interior in a brief press appearance in Brussels, which has announced the forthcoming publication of guidelines for stricter scrutiny of visa applications and the entry of Russian citizens into the EU. These measures, Johansson argues, are compatible with the EU's aim "not to distance ourselves from Russian dissidents and civil society."
