Nine EU countries and two other European nations outside the bloc are calling on the European Commission to tighten entry requirements for Russian citizens into the EU, at a time when Moscow is intensifying its attacks against the civilian population in Ukraine, diplomatic sources said Thursday, according to AFP, as cited by Agerpres.
“It is deeply concerning to see an increasing number of Russian tourists enjoying leisure trips to European beaches and resorts,” the eleven countries wrote in a letter addressed to the European Commission, a copy of which was obtained by the French news agency.
The nine signatory EU member states—Sweden, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Poland—as well as Norway and Iceland, are therefore calling for the introduction of “new restrictive and mandatory measures” to limit the number of these Russian tourists in Europe.
According to this letter, 477,878 visas were issued to Russian citizens last year, most of which were valid for multiple entries into the Schengen Area.
This facilitates access to the Schengen area and increases potential security risks, “particularly those related to the movement of hundreds of thousands of Russian fighters in Ukraine,” the letter’s signatories warn.
Furthermore, the countries mentioned are calling on the European Commission to better identify these current and former Russian soldiers to prevent them from entering the EU.
The Commission has already banned the issuance of multiple-entry visas for Russian citizens as of early November 2025, in response to the numerous hybrid attacks attributed to Moscow.
Since 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU has suspended its visa facilitation agreement for Russian citizens.
Brussels states that this has caused a sharp drop in the number of visas issued to Russians, from over four million before February 2022 to approximately 500,000 in 2023.
Tourist destinations such as France, Spain, and Italy are among the countries that issue the most visas to Russian citizens.
As non-signatories to this letter, these countries believe that hundreds of Russians are already subject to sanctions preventing them from entering the EU and that it is pointless to penalize ordinary citizens, especially when they are coming to countries where there is freedom.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, believes that these restrictions, on the contrary, provide the Kremlin with ammunition when denouncing Western hostility toward the Russian people.
“To promote peace in Europe, it is counterproductive to help Russian authorities isolate Russian society,” she wrote in a letter addressed in September 2025 to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, before the EU banned multiple-entry visas.
source – AGERPRES
