Lithuania urges EU-wide tourist visa ban for Russians

Lithuania’s foreign minister has called on European Union member states to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

PAP/Mateusz Marek

The appeal came after fellow Baltic nation Estonia moved to bar Russians with tourist visas from entering the country.

#Estonia plans not to let #Russians into the country with visas issued in other countries of the European Union, said Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu. pic.twitter.com/8ZL9nVXIQt

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 17, 2022

"It’d be perfect if the whole EU made a decision to rescind the visas, and no one would be issuing them any longer," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday.

He warned that Russian citizens could easily find their way around the ban unless other EU countries followed suit, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

Last week, the Czech Republic, which is presiding over the EU until the end of the year, said that a Europe-wide ban could be imposed on tourist visas for Russians to complement the existing set of sanctions against Moscow, according to the PAP news agency.

On August 31 #EU foreign ministers will discuss the possibility of changing the #Schengen visa code for "considerable reduction" of issuing visas for #Russian citizens. pic.twitter.com/Aqc6QbJYiE

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 18, 2022

(pjm/gs)

Source: PAP​