The Commission of the European Union has said that it cannot decide to limit the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens after the sanctions are aimed at the Russian authorities as well as the elite; however, such measures can be taken independently by the EU Member States.
The Commission’s comments come as a response to the request of the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Based on the explanation of the European Commission, consideration of applications as well as the issuance of short-term Schengen visas is the authority of the EU countries, which must make decisions on each application individually.
Other factors, including whether the applicant poses a threat to public order, national security or international relations, must also be taken into consideration. At the same time, EU visa rules do not allow the possibility of terminating their issuance altogether.
“There is always a group of people who should be granted a visa, such as in humanitarian cases, family members, journalists, and dissidents,” the European Commission pointed out in this regard, as reported by Close the Sky over Ukraine.
Soon after Russia abolished the COVID-19 restrictions on July 15, which were kept in place at the shared border checkpoint with Finland, traffic at the border crossing point increased by a total of 38 per cent, as reported by the Finnish Border Guard.
Based on a press release published by the authority, a total of 596 people crossed the border in the first week after the abolishment of the restrictions alone; however, traffic volumes remain manageable, with sanctions imposed on Russian authorities as the main reason for the current situation.
“So far, there has been no congestion at the border crossing points. However, the Kainuu border guard is prepared for a possible increase in traffic. In addition, the rapid recovery of cross-border traffic is currently affected by the congestion of visa issuing processes on both sides of the border,” the press release reads.
Finland’s Foreign Ministry revealed that a total of 10,520 visas were issued to Russian citizens for the period from July 1 to July 22. In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs justified the figures, stressing that the priority for the government is to differentiate sanctions by applying them only to the Russian regime but not to the ordinary people.
Recently, four Parliamentary groups in Finland discussed the possibility of stopping issuing visas to Russian nationals. In addition, the Parliamentary groups discussed whether authorities in Finland should continue issuing visas to Russians or they should ban them completely.
SOURCE: Schengen Visa Info
