EU foreign ministers give broad support to a visa ban on serving and former Russian soldiers
EU foreign ministers meeting informally at Wicklow in Ireland gave broad support to an EU-wide visa entry ban on current and former members of the Russian army and to tougher visa rules for Russian tourists, Kaja Kallas announced at the closing press conference. Kallas tied the move to the Leipzig airport attack that Germany had attributed to Russia a day earlier. The Wicklow format cannot adopt sanctions, so the support remains a political signal.
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Kallas announced the visa ban at the closing press conference
Kaja Kallas said at the closing press conference of the informal meeting at Wicklow in Ireland that there was broad support for an EU-wide visa entry ban on current and former members of the Russian army and for tighter visa rules for Russian tourists. Kallas said many foreign ministers had raised the visa question at the meeting. She tied the move to the drone incident at Leipzig airport, saying that if it is confirmed it shows visas are a tool for people who mean harm. Kallas also said the bloc was working on how to tighten enforcement of existing sanctions.[1], [2]
Germany placed Russia behind the drones at Leipzig
Germany said on Tuesday that police investigations and intelligence findings had proved Russia was behind three drones found in and around Leipzig/Halle airport on 4 August; the interior minister said the drone's configuration, components, explosives and detonator were all known from other Russian hybrid operations. Berlin said it was closing the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural institution. Russia rejected the accusations, and its foreign ministry summoned Germany's chargé d'affaires Bernd Finke. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the incident a new escalation on European Union soil directly attributed to Russia, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the whole alliance stood in full solidarity with Germany.[2]
The proposal has been on the table since July's sanctions package
The European Commission had already proposed barring EU members from issuing visas to anyone involved in Russia's war against Ukraine, in the twenty-first sanctions package adopted in July. The Wicklow format is informal and cannot adopt sanctions, so the ministers' support remains a political signal that still has to become a legal act. At the same meeting France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said action against Russia's shadow fleet was on the table at European level, and Barrot with ministers from Belgium and the Netherlands said they had summoned Russian ambassadors. Lithuania's Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said Russia saw no political cost in its hybrid operations against European allies.[1], [2]
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