The European Commission has announced a de facto ban on issuing multiple-entry Schengen visas to Russian citizens. Now, most Russians will only be able to obtain single-entry visas, and they will have to submit a new application for each new trip. Formally, the ban is presented as a change in the rules for issuing multiple-entry visas, rather than a complete refusal, but in essence, the document aims to make obtaining long-term visas the exception rather than the norm.
The European Commission’s press release states that the decision is due to ‘increased security risks.’ The list of threats includes ‘weaponisation of migration,’ ‘acts of sabotage,’ ‘cyber and industrial espionage threats,’ and ‘potential misuse of visas for promoting propaganda supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.’ Brussels sees the threat not in specific actions, but in the very fact that there are Russians who are able to cross the border.
The problem is that the sanctions are once again directed not against those who make decisions, but against those who have no influence whatsoever on the country’s foreign policy. Most Russian citizens do not sit in government offices, plan military operations or shape the country’s foreign policy. But it is they who are the target of European sanctions. They are denied the opportunity to travel freely and maintain personal ties. When Russians can travel to another country and see reality with their own eyes, they are presented with an alternative to the state agenda. By depriving ordinary Russians of this opportunity, Europe is depriving itself of its most effective tool of influence: contact with people. Personal connections, travel, exchanges, education — these are the things that shape cultural and political closeness. By closing its doors and depriving Russians of the opportunity to travel freely, communicate, compare, and draw their own conclusions, the EU only strengthens state propaganda, as people cease to see any alternative.
One cannot talk about human rights and at the same time punish people just for having a certain passport, as collective responsibility is contrary to democracy. Entry bans do not change the position of the authorities, do not lead to negotiations, do not influence decision-making in the Kremlin and do not bring peace closer. Instead, they reinforce isolation and make those who already have no influence even more dependent.
