Hungary's recent decision to ease visa restrictions for Russian tourists is a risk to national security and EU leaders should take urgent countermeasures, the European People's Party says. This is reported by the Financial Times, according to UNN.
Details
The chairman of the European People's Party, Manfred Weber, has sent a letter to the president of the European Council, Charles Michel. The document was reviewed by the Financial Times. In it, he wrote that Hungary's move would allow unverified Russians to travel freely across much of the EU and raises “serious national security concerns.
Weber urged Michel to raise the issue at the next leaders' summit in October.
This month, Hungary published details of a new fast-track visa system that allows citizens of eight countries, including Russia and Belarus, to enter Hungary without security checks or other restrictions. Budapest said that many of them will build a nuclear power plant using Russian technology.
However, Weber said that the need for a new immigration system in Hungary is “questionable” and warned that it could “create serious loopholes for espionage activities and potentially allow large numbers of Russians to enter Hungary with minimal controls, posing a serious risk to national security.
“Such a policy could also make it easier for Russians to travel through the Schengen area, bypassing restrictions under EU law.
The letter calls on EU leaders to “take the strictest possible measures to immediately protect the integrity of the Schengen area, limit the security risk that has already arisen and prevent similar initiatives from emerging in Member States in the future.