In a joint statement issued on Thursday 8 September, the Prime Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland announced national restrictive measures on the issuance of EU visas for Russian citizens.
These countries, as they announced on 31 August in Prague (see EUROPE 13011/1) agreed on a “common regional approach” and expressed their “firm intention to introduce temporary national measures for Russian citizens holding visas of the EU and to restrict entry into the Schengen area for Russian citizens traveling for tourist, cultural, sporting and professional purposes”.
“The majority of visas were issued to Russian citizens before Russia’s large-scale aggression in Ukraine, under different geopolitical conditions and considerations”, the leaders explain. “Legitimate exceptions will remain in place for dissidents, humanitarian cases, family members or residence permit holders”.
These countries also call on the Commission to propose restrictive measures for the issuance of visas at EU level.
The Commission, at this stage, has only announced guidelines on the subject (see EUROPE 13015/16).
Link to the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/305 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)