Estonia aims to stop most Russians from entering country within weeks

 (Reuters) – Estonia aims to stop most Russians from entering the country within weeks, if possible acting in concert with its regional partners, Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said.

“It takes some time, but I think timing is also critical, looking at these vast numbers of Russian citizens entering,” Reinsalu told Reuters in Prague after a two-day meeting with his EU counterparts.

The ministers’ meeting decided to make it more expensive and complicated for Russians to obtain visas to travel to the bloc, but stopped short of agreeing to the EU-wide visa ban that Ukraine and several member states had called for.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Moscow would not let the move stand “without consequences,” according to RIA news agencies.

The EU was too divided to agree on a blanket ban, and also left unclear what unilateral measures Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland, which have land borders with Russia, could take to restrict access to Russian visitors.

However, Reinsalu said Estonia was going to work out a solution in its region through cooperation and based “on our national competence on the grounds of national security.”

His country aimed to turn away Russians for security reasons, no matter whether their Schengen visas were issued by Estonia or any other country, he said, referring to the border-check-free Schengen zone within the EU.

“I would very much welcome … decisions in the coming days, coming weeks, where we will, in full accordance with the Schengen visa code, ban entry to our national territories of these people from the Russian Federation, not making any difference if they have Estonian-issued or second Schengen country-issued Schengen visa,” the minister said.

Reinsalu said that over the last six months 300,000 Russians had entered his country, which has a 1.3 million population, and he aimed to reduce this number “most significantly”.

There would be exemptions, however, the minister said.

If jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was freed, then he, his family and “all brave civic resistance members” would be welcome in Estonia, he said. Russians would also be let into the country for humanitarian, family or medical reasons, or if they are coming as diplomats, he added.

The European Union’s move to restrict travel visas for Russians due to Moscow’s war in Ukraine is a step “in the right direction” if implemented by member states, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Wednesday.

EU foreign ministers agreed to fully suspend a visa facilitation agreement with Russia, making it harder and more costly for Russian citizens to enter the EU, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borell, said.

“This goes in the right direction but once again we saw that so far there has been a lot of talk and little action,” Haavisto told reporters, adding the situation should be re-evaluated within a few months.

Finland and other EU members that share a land border with Russia, including the Baltic states and Poland, have been calling for an EU-wide tourist visa ban for Russians.

“When Russia is invading Ukraine and we receive refugees from Ukraine and try to help Ukraine in every way, this is not a time for holidaymaking and luxury tourism (for Russians),” Haavisto said.

Photo – Estonian police officers at the Latvia’s and Estonia’s border checkpoint in Ikla, Estonia. EPA-EFE/Valda Kalnina