On August 8, Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelenski, in an interview with the ‘Washington Post’, raised the need to close access to Schengen territory to all Russian citizens. His argument rested on the claim that “the Russians are taking other people’s land” and that they should “live in their own world until they change their philosophy.” applied like this a logic that made us go back to the First World War and to the concept of “enemy alien”, where every civilian from an enemy country automatically becomes a suspect and therefore falls a collective responsibility on the entire Russian people.
Just in those days it was announced by the Russian authorities that annexation referendums would be held in Kherson and Zaporizhia on September 11. Therefore, this request must be framed within this specific framework. In Zelensky’s opinion, the sanctions imposed on Russia so far are not forceful enough and to reinforce them, it would be essential not only a total embargo on the purchase of Russian energy (something that has already assumed that it is not viable in the short and medium term), but also the total closure of the borders to Russian citizens. And it is also in this context that it is essential to read the counteroffensive launched by Kiev in recent days.
Of course, it has been the countries that share borders with Russia that have led the charge, as with Russian airlines banned from airspace, most travelers use land borders to travel to other EU countries. A) Yes, it was the Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, who was the first to propose a general restriction on tourist visas at EU level. During those first days of August, Estonia and Latvia also stopped issuing residence visas for studies at their embassies in Moscow. This request was joined without hesitation by Poland, which has in prison, it should be remembered, the Spanish journalist Pablo González accused of espionage charges and whose fundamental rights are being violated, and the Czech Republic, current presidency of the European Council. Nevertheless, the 27-member bloc has not achieved the necessary unanimity on the issue, with some countries, Germany, France, Italy or Spain, reluctant to generally restrict the access of all Russians to the Schengen area.
To date, a visa agreement from 2007 that facilitates entry requirements to the EU is in force, although it was partially suspended at the end of February. So this ban was aimed very specifically at people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, such as official Russian delegations and holders of diplomatic passports. The rest of the Russian citizens have continued to enjoy the benefits associated with the facilitation of EU visas.
The speeches of a populist nature that have flooded the public debate throughout Europe in recent weeks advocating, once again, for a total ban on visas for Russian citizens, seem to forget the true nature of the EU and the mandate of the rule of law that is supposed to prevail, even in the face of the anger and helplessness caused by this war.
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Thus, when requesting prohibitions, it is essential to take at least two issues into consideration. The first, if the restrictive measures can dramatically involve our own Rule of Law through the violation of rights. And the second, to analyze if the derivative of the sanctioning imposition will have the desired outcome, in this case, a reaction against the Russian regime. In this case, a general ban on visas for Russian citizens would mean a bankruptcy of our system, since it would directly violate current legislation, but, in addition, it would not only prevent all those who want to escape an authoritarian regime from being able to do so, but It would also reinforce the victimizing arguments of that same regime towards its citizens.
Seems In any case, good sense will win on this occasion, and the ‘seny’ will prevail against the ‘rauxa’ and the thirst for revenge.