The visit to Europe is a privilege, not a human right, Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas recently tweeted and called on her counterparts in the EU to ban tourist visas in EU countries for Russians.
Privilege or not, it is time to stop issuing Schengen visas to citizens who are not persecuted at home. The argument that sanctions should not affect the population, but only the elite, is wrong.
The Kremlin uses gas as a weapon to provoke unrest and political power struggles in Europe. He is concerned with deliberately destabilizing the EU and its member states. Putin is testing European solidarity, which is undoubtedly his opponent’s weak point.
A visa stop for Russian travelers is by no means an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. It’s not about revenge, it’s about reason. To show the Russian people that the actions of their country’s leadership also have consequences for them.
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The passive consent of a large part of the population to the illegal attack on Ukraine, the silence on war crimes, the ignoring of atrocities such as mass targeted rapes and shootings of civilians, the refusal of water for the population of entire cities and the targeted terror through deliberate attacks on residential areas – all of this must have consequences.
“He who is silent agrees,” was once said in the German peace movement. Standing aside and watching your own country wage war is not acceptable.
Why should Russian tourists stroll through the streets of Rüdesheim, Rimini or Reims, do wine tasting and – as Ukrainian refugees are now reporting in many places – also accost Ukrainians? Why should Russian travelers be allowed to take a relaxing holiday in the west while people in the attacked Ukraine have to fear for their lives?
The Russians have been at war in Ukraine for almost half a year. There is hardly any resistance or even criticism of the aggression in Russia itself. Russians must also know that a war of aggression that violates international law cannot remain without consequences for them.
(Photo: Frank Hoppmann)
Cons: Abandoning Europe’s values
By Mareike Mueller
More and more EU states are demanding that Russians should stay out, many of which are already implementing their own rules to achieve this goal. Now the pressure on the international community to find a uniform approach is growing. Only: A blanket visa ban by the EU would not only be counterproductive, but would also mean a departure from a basic European attitude.
On the one hand, there are justified doubts about the effectiveness of the measure: just under a third of Russians, many of them members of the middle and upper classes, have a foreign passport, which is a prerequisite for a Schengen visa.
In any case, it is now easier and more convenient for many Russians to go on vacation to Turkey or Thailand. Anyone who previously didn’t care about Russia’s – not Putin’s – war against Ukraine will not be persuaded by a travel ban to the EU.
Incidentally, the fact that the Schengen visa is commonly referred to as a tourist visa in the current discussion does not do justice to its basic idea.
Because in addition to tourists, opposition members, artists, critics of the regime, people who visit their families or friends also come abroad with the help of the visa. Not all, but some will be ready for exchange in the future. We must not deprive them or ourselves of this opportunity.
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Moreover, the EU would also harm itself with a visa ban, as such a measure plays into the hands of those in Russia who portray the EU as Russophobic, fuel fears of the West and spread insecurity among those who are still considering fleeing abroad . Europe can and should do more to counter this narrative. A visa ban, on the other hand, would feed it.
What’s more, if the EU stopped issuing visas for Russians, it would be betraying its own values. Europe stands for openness. Europe should be able to tolerate the fact that some Russians party on the Côte d’Azur or go shopping in Milan – without excluding all people with Russian passports per se.
The EU should approach the visa issue strategically: for example, it could shorten the length of stay or increase the cost. This would give you diplomatic leeway. However, if you choose an option from the “all or nothing” kit from the outset, you are taking future options for yourself.
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