EU foreign policy chief: Visa ban for Russian combatants doable
The ban proposed by the European Commission on Russian combatants getting visas to enter the European Union is, according to experts, doable, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters on June 15.
The proposed ban is among measures in the 21st package of sanctions against Russia put forward by the European Commission on June 9.
Kallas was asked about the proposal by reporters before and after the scheduled meeting of EU foreign ministers on June 15.
She said that there was intelligence about people who had participated in Russia’s war on Ukraine and it was a matter of adding them to the Schengen prohibition list so that they could not enter Europe.
“I am not an expert on the visa and on these issues, but as our experts say it is doable,” Kallas said.
“Russia has not changed its goals. We should not act as business as usual with them. When it comes to the Russian combatants ban, now the Commission’s proposal is on the table,” she said.
Kallas said that it was not only a question of the war in Ukraine “it’s actually the question of our own security, because these people who have been fighting against Ukraine coming to European territories, I’m sure will create a lot of problems here that we should avoid from the outset.”
Asked if she saw a message from the Kremlin in its Russian strikes on Ukraine as EU accession negotiations with Ukraine begin, Kallas said: “Well, Russia is clearly sending a message that it doesn’t want to end this war”.
“I mean, whether we are tying this to the Ukrainian decision about their future, I don’t think that they [Russia] should have a say about any other country’s future but their own,” Kallas said.
Responding to a separate question, Kallas said that it was “very unfortunate” that there were still cultural events involving Russians being held in some EU member states. She put this in the context of Russia striking cultural heritage sites in Ukraine.
(Archive photo: European Parliament)
