The European Commission is finalizing proposals to tighten visa rules for Russian tourists, expected to be presented in January, according to officials cited by Politico. Poland, Sweden, and Estonia have pushed hardest for restrictions, particularly targeting former participants in the war against Ukraine, with Russian citizens issued about 478,000 Schengen tourist visas in 2025, many of them multiple-entry.
Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said the current system creates security vulnerabilities amid rising sabotage and arson incidents linked to Moscow. Finland's prime minister has called for an outright end to tourist visas for Russians, and EU foreign ministers are set to discuss further restrictions, including on Russian diplomats, at an October 12 council meeting.
The full dispatch is available from the source below.
✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK
When a country issues almost half a million tourist visas to citizens of a state it accuses of running sabotage campaigns against it, the paperwork and the warnings have stopped matching up. It took a string of arson attacks and consulate closures before anyone in Brussels decided the multiple-entry stamp might deserve a second look. Better late than never, though the Russians who were up to nothing in particular will be the ones standing in the longer line.
