DUBAI: EU chief diplomat Joseph Borrell has echoed Washington in its opposition to a blanket ban on visas for Russians ahead of talks between the bloc’s officials next week.
Demands were made by several countries, including Finland, Estonia and the Czech Republic, to Brussels to impose an EU-wide ban on new tourist visas for Russians to enter the Schengen free travel area as punishment for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Borrell made the comments in response to calls by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had first urged the visa ban in an interview earlier this month with the Washington Post, saying Russians should “live in their own world until they change their philosophy.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposed the calls on Monday, saying Russians should be able to flee their home country if they disagree with the regime.
Zelensky then issued another call a few weeks ago for European Union states to ban visas for Russian nationals to keep the bloc from becoming a “supermarket” open to anyone with the means to enter.
On Monday the United States rebuffed Zelensky’s demand saying Washington would not want to close off pathways to refuge for Russia’s dissidents and others who are vulnerable to human rights abuses.
A State Department spokesperson said the Biden administration had already imposed visa restrictions for Kremlin officials but made it clear that its focus would be on identifying those involved in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and holding them accountable.
“We’ve also been clear that it is important to draw a line between the actions of the Russian government and its policies in Ukraine, and the people of Russia,” a State Department spokesperson said.
(With Reuters)
