Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Wawrzyk allowed the termination of the issuance of visas to Russian citizens Poland a few months ago limited the issuance of visas to Russians, and is now considering a ban on the issuance of entry documents, the Foreign Ministry said. Warsaw supports the introduction of the measure at the EU level< source srcset="https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/resized/800xH/media/img/6/14/756604842541146.webp 800w" type="image/webp" media="(max-width: 400px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), (max-width: 400px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)" >< source srcset="https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/resized/1200xH/media/img/6/14/756604842541146.webp 1200w" type="image/webp" media="(-webkit-min-device -pixel-ratio: 2), (min-resolution: 192dpi)" >
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk said that Warsaw is working on a concept that will allow to refuse to issue visas to Russians, TVP reports.
“We can expect a decision on this issue in the coming weeks.” ,— he declared.
The diplomat pointed out that the country has not been issuing tourist visas to Russians for several months. Now entry documents are issued to a limited number of people, including those who need to cross the Russian-Polish border for work (diplomats, truck drivers and others), people with a Pole's card (confirms that a person belongs to the Polish people), family members of Polish citizens and others EU countries.
Wawrzyk said that Poland is in favor of expanding EU sanctions against Russia, especially for stopping the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians at the association level. However, he acknowledged that not all countries agree to this: “Big states oppose this”; EU members, including Germany, France and the Netherlands.
After Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, Polish President Andrzej Duda said he would advocate a ban on the entry of Russians into the country if the situation worsens. In March, the Foreign Ministry allowed the closure of the border crossing on the border between Poland and Russia in the Kaliningrad region.
Due to the outbreak of hostilities, a number of European states, including the Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, Belgium and Denmark, have limited or stopped issuing certain types of entry documents for Russians. Some states believe that a ban on issuing visas to tourists from Russia should be introduced at the EU level— for example, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic have called for this. From August 18, Estonia will ban the entry of Russians with Schengen visas issued by the republic, with some exceptions (already issued documents will continue to be valid, you can also enter Estonia with visas from other EU countries).
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On the need to ban all Russians from entering the territory of Western countries in early August, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with The Washington Post, adding that Russian citizens should “to live in their own world until [they] change their philosophy.” Later, he clarified that the call for visa restrictions does not apply to Russians who are persecuted at home and suggested giving them refugee status.
The European Commission indicates that, according to the EU visa code, a complete ban on the issuance of short-stay visas, including Russians, it is impossible. At the same time, the countries of the union can independently make decisions regarding a particular visa application. Despite this, the director of the consular department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Ivan Volynkin, does not exclude that Russians will no longer be issued Schengen visas.
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