(Brussels) The European Commission is calling on EU and Schengen countries to “thoroughly review” visas issued to Russian citizens to ensure they do not pose a security risk, it said on Friday. the Commissioner for Home Affairs.
Posted at 10:18 a.m.
The war against Ukraine is “also a threat to our security and we must not be naive, Putin’s goal is to destroy the European Union”, Ylva Johansson told a press conference in Nuijamaa, Finland , on the border with Russia, alongside the Finnish Minister of the Interior, Krista Mikkonen.
“We cannot exclude that people come with the aim of provoking a social revolt, violence, that sort of thing, or trying to make propaganda. This is something that we need to examine more in depth, ”also judged the Swedish commissioner.
The EU formally adopted on Friday a suspension of a 2007 agreement facilitating the issuance of visas to Russian nationals, a measure which will come into force on Monday, in reaction to the war in Ukraine. Fewer than a million Russians currently hold a valid Schengen zone visa, according to the Commission.
The EU executive is set to publish guidelines on Friday for member states to ensure they give priority in issuing visas “to dissidents, journalists, applicants for humanitarian or family reasons” by example.
“But for those who come for non-essential reasons, it really needs a very, very in-depth examination […] and we need to be more restrictive,” continued Ylva Johansson. “We say that member states should review visas already issued to Russians.”
The European Commissioner indicated that “recently Russian citizens were in a Member State with the sole purpose of provoking Ukrainian refugees”.
The official, who was in Riga on Thursday, also indicated that the decision by Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland to temporarily restrict the entry of Russian citizens with European visas into their territory was “ according to what the Baltic countries had told him, in line” with the recommendations of the Commission.
Asked about Finland’s plan to strengthen the fences on parts of its 1,300 km border with Russia, the commissioner said she “fully understands that sometimes a fence is very useful, or any other form of physical barrier”.
“It is up to the States to decide what is the best way to defend the external borders […] in compliance with the legislation”, particularly in terms of asylum, she said.