EU tightens visa restrictions on Russians over the Ukraine war and acts of sabotage

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BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Friday made it harder for Russian citizens to enter Europe’s ID-check free travel area due to Russia's continued war on Ukraine, increasing acts of sabotage blamed on Moscow and the potential misuse of visas.

Russian nationals can no longer get multiple-entry visas into the so-called Schengen area, which is made up of 25 of the 27 EU member countries, plus Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

They will now have to apply for a new visa each time they travel to Europe, “allowing for close and frequent scrutiny of applicants to mitigate any potential security risk,” said the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission.

Exceptions will be made for people “whose reliability and integrity is without doubt” like dissidents, independent journalists or human rights defenders, and for close family members of Russians living in the EU or family members of EU citizens living in Russia.

“We now face unprecedented drone disruptions and sabotage on our soil,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement announcing the stricter visa rules. “Travelling to and freely moving within the EU is a privilege not a given.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova bristled at the decision.

“The European Commission apparently figured: ‘Why does Western Europe need creditworthy tourists when there are illegal migrants living on benefits and Ukrainian draft dodgers?’”

The EU suspended its “visa facilitation agreement” with Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and decided to “deprioritize” the granting of visas to Russian nationals, making it more time consuming to get a visa.

As a result, the number of visas issued to Russians drop from more than 4 million in 2019 to around 500,000 in 2023.

The new move makes visa applications more onerous but falls short of an outright ban.

The commission also pressed Serbia this week to stop granting citizenship to Russians, which then makes it easier for them to enter Europe, saying that this “poses potential security risks for the EU.”

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Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia contributed to this report.