PRAGUE — Northern European Union countries called Wednesday for the 27- nation bloc to put a broad ban on sightseer visas for Russian citizens, averring that the issue is a matter of public security as President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine drags on.

Source: https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca
But at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Czech capital, Prague, other member countries, like France, Germany and Belgium, argued that it’s important not to discipline Russian people who may veritably well oppose the war or need to enter Europe for philanthropic purposes.

The EU formally tensed visa restrictions on Russian officers and business people in May under a 2007 agreement to ease trips between Russia and Europe. But calls are mounting from, especially, Poland and the Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — for a broader ban on excursionists.

“ We need to incontinently ramp up the price to Putin’s governance, ” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told journalists. “ The loss of time is paid by the blood of Ukrainians. ”

Livery rules are supposed to apply across the 26 countries that make up Europe’s passport-free trip area, but Reinsalu said that “ it’s our public capability, under the principle of public security, to decide the issues of entry to our soil. ”

Over the years, several countries have greeted border controls for security reasons in the so-called “ Schengen area, ” in which Europeans and callers can travel freely without ID checks.

The foreign minister of Finland, which shares the EU’s longest border with Russia, underscored that his country would, as of Thursday, slash the number of visas being delivered to Russian citizens to 10 from normal. They’ll only be suitable to apply for the trip pass in four Russian metropolises.

“ It’s important that we show that at the same time when Ukrainians are suffering, normal tourism shouldn’t continue business as usual, ” Pekka Haavisto said. “ Finland has formerly made our decision to limit the quantum of sightseer visas. We hope that the whole European Union will do analogous opinions. ”

Amid what appear to be veritably settled divisions over the issue, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said he hoped that a common EU position can be set up, pointing to the fact that Ukrainian men don't have the luxury to choose whether they can leave their war-torn country.

“ It has to have consequences on all fronts, ” Kofod said. “ We want to limit visas for Russian excursionists, shoot a clear signal to Putin, to Russia,( that) what he's doing in Ukraine is completely inferior. ”

But European countries further from Russia and Ukraine’s borders are reticent to go too far, and it appears likely that EU countries will simply agree to use the 2007 agreement to make it further time-consuming and expensive for Russian citizens to get a visa.

Belgium Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said it's important to avoid creating a patchwork system “ where Russians could do a kind of visa shopping among the countries of the European Union. ”

“ It’s veritably important to target the right people. That is, those who support this unjust war against Ukraine and also those who try to shirk the warrants that we've assessed, ” she said.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna agreed.

“ It’s important to distinguish between those responsible for the war in the frontal row the Russian chairman, his associates, and all those who support his war sweats and Russian citizens; artists, scholars, intelligencers. The first is responsible for the war. The others, no, ” she said.