The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has announced that a total of 998,085 citizens of Russia have legally entered the European Union through land border crossing points since the beginning of the war in Ukraine until August 22.
According to Frontex, the majority of Russians who entered the EU during the above-mentioned period held residence permits, valid visas, or dual citizenship, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 998 085 Russian citizens have entered the EU through land border crossing points. Most of them arrived via Finland and Estonia. The majority are persons with residence permits/visas to the EU, or dual citizenship holders likely finding alternatives for restricted air connections,” Frontex wrote on its official Twitter account.
Data provided by Frontex show that the highest number of legal entries of Russian nationals in the EU were registered on the land border crossing points between Russia and Finland. From February 24 until August 22, a total of 328,185 Russians entered Finland through its land border crossing points.
Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia also registered a high number of legal entries of Russian nationals.
Estonia registered a total of 281,957 legal entries of Russians from the beginning of the war in Ukraine until August. In addition, the country registered 14,378 entries only in the last seven days through its land border crossing points with Russia.
Frontex further shows that another 275,150 Russian nationals entered Lithuania, of which 142,504 used the land border crossing points between Belarus and Lithuania.
As for Poland, Frontex shows that the country registered 49,123 legal entries of Russians on its land border crossing points. Of the total number of entries made to Poland, 14,807 of them were recorded on the border of Belarus with Poland, and another 7,774 were recorded on the border of Ukraine with Poland.
Similar to the other countries, Latvia also registered a high number of entries. A total of 54,618 Russians legally entered Latvia until August 22, of which 19,247 of them used the land border crossing point between Belarus and Latvia.
In contrast to the above-mentioned countries, Norway recorded the lowest number of entries of Russians. Only 8,052 nationals of Russia entered Norway during the period mentioned above through land border crossing points.
Considering such a high number of entries of Russians into the EU and the current situation in Ukraine, several EU countries have already restricted entry to citizens of Russia. Some EU member states have stopped issuing visas and have banned entry for Russians, whereas others are yet to make a decision or have opposed such a move.
SOURCE: Schengen Visa Info
