Netherlands advocates ban on issuing visas to citizens of Russia
Russian tourists are no longer welcome in Europe and therefore should not be issued Schengen visas.
As Censor.NET informs with reference to RBC-Ukraine, this was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Wopke Hoekstra.
In the coming days, the foreign ministers of European countries will discuss in Prague whether a European ban on the entry of Russian tourists should be introduced.
"In Europe, we will advocate not to continue issuing tourist visas. We will make a clear distinction between tourist visas and other visas," Hoekstra said.
Other categories include education, family visit, refugee or long-term visas.
At the same time, Hoekstra does not believe that ordinary Russians should be punished for the war.
"On the one hand, you want interpersonal contact, and on the other hand, you want to make a difference between the state of Russia and Russian citizens. At the same time, we see that most people who come here spend money. These are often rich Russians who also are often connected with the regime," the minister said.
It will be recalled that in mid-August, Estonia closed its border to more than 50,000 Russians with previously issued visas, becoming the first country in the EU to do so.
It should be noted that the ministers of foreign affairs of the European Union will discuss the introduction of restrictions on issuing visas to citizens of Russia on August 31.
Earlier, the ban on issuing visas to Russians was supported by Latvia, Poland, Finland and the Czech Republic. These countries want it to be introduced at the EU level.
