Schengen is not needed. How “big” Russia is once again dispossessing “small” Russia | Opinions
The main characteristics inherent in Russians to the Western world – the right to move freely according to the sensation – are under the fiber. the app started discussing short visas for Russian citizens. A total ban does not seem to be planned yet, but the social gap between public associations is beginning to manifest itself catastrophically clearly.
Here is a summary of the visa-diplomatic episode of the past week: “Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a right,” absurd phrase Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas immediately asked some conceptual questions. Immediately before this, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued an appeal to somehow ban the Russians entry into Europe, since, according to Zelensky, they need to “live in their own world until they change their philosophy.”
This is a matter of morality, explained Marika Linntam, Director General of the European Foreign Ministry for Europe of the Estonian Foreign Ministry: “The daily life of Russians should not continue as if nothing had happened. We wanted the Russians to know what this [спецоперации] there are consequences.”
Estonians received unexpected support in Finland, a country hitherto considered relatively benevolent towards Russia. But Prime Minister Marin also considered it wrong that “Russians can live as if nothing had happened and travel to Europe.”
“We rarely … rarely meet the entrance, although formally it would be open,” returned Marin, and a few days later the head of the Finnish Foreign Ministry, Pekka Haavisto, said that applications for tourist visas, for example, were accepted, just once a week. This is not enough even for St. Petersburg alone – to make it clearer, back in early August, it was possible to apply for a visa at the Finnish visa center only in mid-December. In connection with the pandemic, when the borders were closed, the center, as unnecessary, includes a staff, and now it seems that it will not be soon to recruit a staff. In addition, the Finns pledged not to issue visas to those who used them for transit to other European countries.
The Estonian authorities have already issued an early ban on entry into the country to holders of Schengen visas issued by Estonia – with a vulnerable, but nonetheless. The President of Latvia, Egils Levits, proposed to go even further and review previously issued visas and residence permits. Latvia, we note, has become one of the main countries for emigrants from Russia in recent years.
Against this background, the position of other Schengen countries, such as Germany, France or the Netherlands, looks for consolation.