As ERR has learned, some European Union members intend to close entry to the Schengen zone to those Russian citizens who participated in the war against Ukraine.
Points of attention
- European Commission Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, and a Frontex representative discussed the potential entry ban at a meeting in Tallinn.
- The ban on Schengen entry for Russian soldiers is seen as crucial for maintaining security even post-war.
What is known about the plans of EU members?
Currently, such a scenario is being considered by the ministers of internal security of the Baltic countries, the Nordic countries, and Poland — they discussed this issue at a meeting in Tallinn.
In addition, it is indicated that the meeting was attended by the European Commission Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, and a representative of the border agency Frontex.
According to the head of the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Igor Taro, it is now extremely important to restrict free travel for "hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens who fought against an independent European state — Ukraine."
We must take a very clear position that these people cannot travel freely within Schengen — we are not giving them a residence permit, we will not give them a visa, because all these people who were killing and destroying there pose a very serious security threat to all of us.
Igor Tarot
Minister of Internal Affairs of Estonia
He also drew attention to the fact that the ban on entry into the Schengen area for Russian soldiers should remain in force even after the end of active military operations.
