Latvia’s international minister has cited safety issues amid rising visa approvals for Russian vacationers
Latvian Overseas Minister Baiba Braze has known as on EU member states to cease issuing Schengen vacationer visas to Russian residents, claiming they pose a menace to the bloc’s inside safety.
Because the escalation of the Ukraine battle in 2022, the EU has absolutely suspended its visa facilitation settlement with Russia and imposed journey restrictions. Latvia, together with Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, and the Czech Republic, has banned vacationer visas for Russian residents. Norway, which shares a land border with Russia and isn’t an EU member state, has additionally closed its border for Russian vacationers and different ‘non-essential’ guests.
“Latvia calls on the EU international locations to halt visa issuance for Russian residents,” Braze posted on X on Sunday, citing safety issues.
She famous that the variety of Schengen visas issued to Russian passport holders surged by 25% final 12 months in comparison with 2023.
In keeping with the Schengen Barometer tracker, the determine surpassed 500,000 in complete, regardless of sanctions concentrating on Russian candidates. Italy led in visa purposes acquired and emerged as the first vacation spot for Russian vacationers inside the Schengen Space, knowledge confirmed.
Braze’s calls echo these by the nation’s inside minister, Rihards Kozlovskis, who mentioned in March it was the EU’s “ethical responsibility” to impose an outright visa ban on Russian vacationers. Kozlovskis claimed the EU “should admit” that it’s “in a hybrid conflict” with Russia and urged the bloc to “critically acknowledge the menace” that Russian vacationers allegedly pose to the EU’s inside safety.
Riga has adopted an more and more hardline stance towards Moscow for the reason that Ukraine battle escalated, saying sweeping journey restrictions for Russian nationals, together with barring Russian-registered automobiles from coming into the nation.
Together with neighboring Estonia and Lithuania, Latvia has additionally exhibited hostility to its ethnic Russian minority, which at present contains round 25% of the nation’s inhabitants.
Along with spending greater than 1% of its whole GDP on weapons for Ukraine, Latvia has begun to deport hundreds of Russians who refused to take or failed a compulsory Latvian language check. It has additionally destroyed Soviet-era World Struggle II monuments, in addition to arrested dozens of individuals for celebrating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.
Earlier this month, Latvia’s army intelligence service issued public pointers on the way to determine potential Russian spies and saboteurs. Traits equivalent to “sloppy look” and “inadequate hygiene” have been listed as attainable indicators of a reconnaissance-sabotage group member.
