Poland to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens
Poland announced it will be stopping issuing visas to Russian citizens. The country's authorities are also working on a procedure that will allow to refuse EU visas to Russians, said the Deputy Head of the Polish Foreign Ministry, Piotr Wawrzyk. According to him, the decision will be made in the coming weeks.
Wawrzyk said that Poland is in favor of expanding EU sanctions, especially suspending the agreement on visa facilitation for citizens of the Russian Federation. However, Germany, France and the Netherlands oppose this. That is why Poland is preparing a new procedure.
He noted that Poland has not issued tourist visas to Russians for several months. The exceptions are those who need to cross the Polish-Russian border for work, such as truck drivers, diplomats. This list also includes persons with a Poland's national card, family members of Polish citizens and other EU countries.
On August 11, Estonian officials said the Estonian government will not allow Russians with Schengen visas to enter the country. The authorities of Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia also spoke in favor of the ban on issuing visas to citizens of the Russian Federation. At the same time, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he could hardly imagine how it was possible to stop issuing Schengen visas to Russians. He stressed that the responsibility for the Russian invasion of Ukraine lies not with ordinary Russians, but with the Russian authorities.