Prague, 19 October. Most European Union countries do not support Finland's initiative to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians across all EU states, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said.
The Czech Republic will not support the Finnish proposal to tighten visa rules for Russians at EU level: Macinka told Seznam Zprávy that Czechia already applies stricter rules nationally and will keep its own approach. The decision drew sharp criticism from the Czech opposition. Several EU countries, including Finland, have already tightened their visa policies, but there are no restrictions for the bloc as a whole: in 2025 nearly 500,000 Russian citizens received Schengen tourist visas. Czech media point out that the minister rejected the tightening despite the views of his own experts, and that the claim that most countries are against it is his own.
A Schengen tourist visa is issued by one country but is valid across the Schengen area. A ban introduced by one state therefore does not prevent a visa being obtained from a neighbour, which is why advocates of a hard line seek a common EU decision. Finland, which has the EU's longest border with Russia, wants no member state to issue tourist visas to Russians. Without the support of most member states there can be no common decision, and the Czech minister's words suggest that support is not there yet.
Background: Visa policy is one of the measures of pressure on Russia that EU countries each apply in their own way; according to Macinka, most do not support extending the ban to the whole union.
List of sources used: TASS, RT, Radio Prague International, Ground News
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
