This time it is about stopping the very possibility of Russian citizens visiting the countries of the Schengen zone, that is, most of the countries of the European Union. There are even more radical ideas – to issue a visa only to those who openly betray their native country. And thus, as in other similar cases, Europe will harm itself first of all. Why?
EU countries continue to look for ways to introduce new sanctions against Russia. At the same time, they have long neglected the rule formulated by smart political scientists at the very dawn of the sanctions war: “impose sanctions against the elite, but not against the economy and ordinary Russians – otherwise you will rally ordinary Russians around the elite and the head of state.” So, in particular, a number of EU member states have already reached the point of visa sanctions – however, so far at the level of artificial bureaucratic delays. The Czech Republic, Romania, Poland and the Baltic countries have seriously restricted the issuance of visas to Russian citizens.
At the same time, some representatives of these countries claim that visa restrictions need to be expanded and deepened.
“We are entering the common Schengen area, which means that people who have visas from other countries (the Schengen zone — Ed.) can come to Estonia and use our state as a transit country,” Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets is indignant . And to cover this loophole – that is, to protect Estonia from Russian tourists who dare to spend money in this country – can only be a decision to ban the issuance of Schengen to Russians, adopted at the level of the entire European Union. “Sanctions against Russia should be universal in Europe,” the minister said.
Finland is taking the same initiative. A number of local deputies demand to deprive Russians of the right to receive Schengen, or to leave the right to a visa only in exceptional cases – even realizing what harm the expulsion of Russian tourists will do to the Finnish economy.
“I myself am from Lappeenranta (a famous tourist center — Ed.) and I know what harm such a tough approach will do to the local economy, especially in southeast Finland. However, I am nevertheless of the opinion that such important moral and humanitarian issues are at stake that a tough approach should be taken,” says Finnish MP Jukka Kopra.
The government agrees with them.
“Personally, I think that the policy should be tightened. There are reasons for this,” Finnish Prime Minister Aki Linden said (his boss, Sanna Marin, is on vacation). “In Eastern Finland, people wonder why the Russians keep coming here, as before, despite the fact that Russia is waging a brutal war.”
In fact, the solution is, of course, strange. If someone in Eastern Finland is surprised by the arrival of Russians, then he must understand that if the country is closed to Russians, the inhabitants of Finland will not be able to travel to Russia. And they need to travel.
“Finland has very strict restrictions on the sale of alcohol, so many Finns love to travel to St. Petersburg – fast, elegant, by train or by car. Now all this will disappear, they will have to cook mash”, says political scientist Marat Bashirov.
After all, Moscow has already stated that it will not leave the decision to stop issuing visas unanswered.
“As far as we understand, so far this solution has not found any, let’s say, application in terms of application. Let’s hope it doesn’t. But, of course, any such actions against Russian citizens will entail countermeasures and a response. It is quite understandable and predictable,” said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Vladimir Putin.
Yes, the flow of Europeans to Russia after the start of the special operation has declined sharply.
“In the first four months of 2022, citizens of the EU countries were issued 20 times fewer visas than in the same period in 2019,” said Ivan Volynkin, director of the consular department of the Russian Foreign Ministry. However, it is possible that in the near future it will be restored – again, for the sake of business.
“When we are told that they will deprive us of Schengen visas, then we will endure. But how the Finns will do without buying alcohol in St. Petersburg or how the Italians will import whey here for the production of Italian analogues of cheese in Russia – this will be a headache for the European Union”, says Russian political scientist Marat Bashirov.
Yes, European leaders have already taught Russian politicians and political scientists that they make decisions contrary to common sense, economic expediency and the reminder of some Finnish deputies that “we must continue to take Russian money.” However, this time most experts are inclined to believe that the EU will not take such a step after all.
In particular, because the longer the sanctions war continues, the more economic expediency is taken into account in the decision-making process. So, for example, if European leaders used to talk about an embargo on Russian gas, then now this option of sanctions has been removed from the agenda – even German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who previously actively advocated the rejection of Russian blue fuel, now says that without Russian gas supplies, Germany will face popular unrest.
Without Russian tourists, of course, there will be no unrest, but the wallets of European hoteliers, restaurateurs and other tourism-related workers will miss billions of euros, because in the pre-coronavirus era, almost a quarter of all Schengen visas were issued to Russians.
“Tourism revenues will fall almost across Europe. We are talking about many billions of euros. And Eastern Finland (since the Finns are talking about it) without our tourists will become a depressive region,” Vadim Trukhachev, an associate professor at the Russian State Humanitarian University, explains to the VZGLYAD newspaper.
In addition to economic damage, the European Union apart from the ban on the entry of Russian tourists can also receive an ideological one. After all, a significant part of the Russians who visited European countries (and once again, Russian citizens accounted for up to a quarter of all Schengen visas) became attached to Europe and became a kind of channel for pro-European sentiments and the ideology of Eurocentricity in Russian society.
“The EU was built on the concept of a desirable world. You can’t limit people in their desire for the desired peace – this contradicts the original concept of the European Union”, Oleg Bondarenko, a Russian political scientist and founder of the Balkanist.ru project, tells the VZGLYAD newspaper.
“With the entry ban for Russian citizens, the EU will lose the last levers of influence on Russian citizens. Previously, the refusal to abolish and even significantly ease the visa regime had a strong impact on the image of the EU in Russia and reduced the possibility of influencing us. Now the EU risks losing the remnants of its attractiveness,” Vadim Trukhachev agrees with him.
That is why in the EU, according to some experts, they are now thinking not about how to ban Russian citizens from visiting European countries, but about how to facilitate this visa regime for the right category of citizens.
“Now the West is trying to support the departure of disgruntled Russians abroad, to support the brain drain. Even the UK in this situation has made a special program for Russian scientists, – says Oleg Bondarenko.
“Therefore, now, on the contrary, it will be easier to obtain visas for representatives of various professions, including journalists.”
However, the EU also has a Solomonic decision – that is, not to close the Schengen area for Russians and at the same time use it for propaganda purposes. This decision was proposed by Kyiv, and it consists in the introduction of a special filter for the inhabitants of Russia.
“We insist that those Russians who support this genocidal war – and according to various polls, they still make up more than 80% of the population of Russia – are not allowed into the countries of the free world,” said Oleksiy Makeev, Ukraine’s sanctions representative.
In his opinion, in order to obtain a Schengen visa, Russians must sign a special document stating that they do not support a special military operation in Ukraine, and also indicate that they feel responsible or partially responsible for Russia’s actions in Ukraine. According to Aleksey Makeev, all this should lead to an increase in the critical attitude of the inhabitants of Russia towards the current government.
True, it is possible that the effect of such a “filter” will be the opposite. Not the willingness to accept “a jar of jam and a box of cookies” in the form of a tour to Europe for a written renunciation of the Motherland, but the final, principled refusal of Russians from the “desired world.” After all, as it is written on the chevrons of a number of comedians from among the Russian fighters fighting for our and world freedom from the Nazis: “born an orc – defend Mordor.”
Gevorg Mirzayan, Associate Professor, Financial University, VIEW
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