Finland wants to ban Russian travel in EU

Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen made five requests to the EU to heavily restrict Russian citizens’ movement and travel into and through the European Union.

In a letter dated to Oct. 12, Valtonen writes: “The Kremlin must see that continued aggression will deepen its isolation. I ask you to take these proposals forward as an urgent priority,” as EU foreign ministers meet in Luxembourg.

Her first request is to “stop issuing Schengen visas to Russian nationals for non-essential travel, including tourism.” Echoing Finland’s own national restrictions on Russian travel since 2022.

Countries like France, Spain, and Italy, have historically opposed attempts to ban Russian tourist visas; as a compromise, Valtonen writes that she would support a German proposal “for visas with limited territorial validity,” but only as an interim measure.

Her second request is for a binding visa ban to be used as a sanctions measure against non-desirables such as members of Putin’s inner circle and any people or entities sanctioned by the EU.

The third request is to refuse visas to “Russian athletes and sports team members with close ties to the Russian government.” As the recent reentry of Russian athletes in sporting events has caused a wave of anger in EU politics.

One additional request was the ban of Russian ex-combatants from entering the European Union, Finland has requested this before in the EU’s 21st sanction package, but the request was watered down as EU members couldn’t agree on how to enforce it.

Valtonen’s Estonian counterpart, Margus Tsahkna, warned of the risk of Russian ex-combatant entry to the EU, with “many of them supported by the Russian secret services.” He said.

The final request was “to submit a robust amendment to the visa code,” that would “enable the Union to impose binding visa restrictions swiftly and consistently when its political or security relations with a third country deteriorate severely.”

The final request comes as the European Commission is to propose a new visa law in January that will take a much tougher approach toward countries that threaten the EU, such as Russia.