On Friday 30 September, the European Commission implemented the Member States’ request of 26 September (see EUROPE 13029/20) to update the guidelines on how to issue short-stay or long-term visas to Russian nationals.
These lines “are more about the threat to our security”, commented commissioner Ylva Johansson, citing both Russian threats to use nuclear weapons and the recent sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Visa applications from Russian citizens, who have been arriving in greater numbers at EU borders in recent days – especially in Finland and Estonia – will therefore have to be assessed twice over against this security threat, the commissioner insisted.
According to Frontex, as of 27 September, 66,000 Russian citizens had entered the EU in the space of a week, which is “30% more than the previous week”, after Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation on 21 September.
While several countries, such as France and Germany, have pleaded for a balanced approach that would also allow people who do not wish to fight in Ukraine to be received, the Commissioner has considered, in a somewhat contradictory approach, that this reason (fleeing from fighting) does not justify the issuance of a short-stay visa should these people ultimately aim to stay more than 90 days in the EU.
In addition, possible humanitarian exemptions for short-stay visa applications should also be strictly applied, with exceptions for journalists or dissidents.
On the other hand, wanting to flee mobilisation and refusing to fight in Ukraine may justify an application for a long-term visa, although again Member States are called upon to be strict and vigilant about security and to examine the profiles of applicants very rigorously.
In any case, the Commissioner explained that Member States should not accept short-stay visa applications from Russian nationals who have taken refuge in third countries (such as Georgia, Turkey) and should only consider applications from those coming from Russia.
She also noted that any Russian citizen arriving in the EU and requesting asylum should be able to enter the EU and lodge their application for protection.
The guidelines are therefore partly in line with demands of countries bordering Russia with regard to security and security checks at external borders, since these countries are entitled to refuse entry to a Russian citizen who, for example, has a visa for Germany. However, this is not a blanket visa ban, since a case-by-case approach, based on the merits of the applicant, is still advocated.
The guidelines also cover the revocation and annulment of valid visas, which should be reviewed in light of the “current geopolitical context”.
Link to the guidelines: https://aeur.eu/f/3ct (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)