Interior ministers of the Baltic states, Scandinavia, and Poland have agreed on a joint decision to ban entry into the Schengen area for Russian citizens who participated in the war against Ukraine. This was reported by UNN citing ERR.
Details
The meeting took place on Thursday in the Estonian capital, Tallinn. It was also attended by the European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Ylva Johansson, and a representative of the EU border agency Frontex.
The outcome of the negotiations was an agreed-upon decision regarding the restriction of entry into Europe for citizens of the Russian Federation who directly participated in the aggression against Ukraine.
"Hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens have fought against an independent European state. We must take a clear stand that these people will not be able to travel freely within the Schengen area," stated the Estonian Minister of the Interior, Lauri Läänemets.
According to him, the restriction will affect not only visas but also other forms of legalizing presence in the EU.
"We will not issue them residence permits, we will not issue them visas, because all these people who killed and destroyed there pose a very great threat to the security of each of us," emphasized Läänemets.
According to the adopted approach, the ban will remain in effect even after the active phase of hostilities in Ukraine concludes.