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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke again on Friday about the visa ban for Russian citizens. In his daily speech he stressed that it must be ensured that “Russian assassins and enablers of the terrorist state” do not enjoy this right.
You cannot destroy the very idea of Europe, our common European values, you cannot transform Europe into a supermarket where it does not matter who enters,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader believes that this is a fair measure and that only refugees or asylum seekers should be helped. He thanked the Czech Republic, the Baltic States and other European countries for bringing the visa issue to the agenda.
In an interview Monday with The Washington Post, Zelensky had already called on the West to close its borders to the Russians in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. The Russians, he explained, are “stealing other people’s land” and should “live in their own world until they change their philosophy.”
This week, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas called on the European Union to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens. “Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a right,” he wrote in a post on the twitter.
Stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. visiting #Europe it is a privilege, not a human right. Air travel from the UK is closed. It means that while Schengen countries issue visas, Russia’s neighbors bear the burden (FI, EE, LV: single access points). Time to end Russian tourism now
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) August 9, 2022
The Prime Minister of Finland also follows the same line of thought. “It is not correct that while Russia is waging a brutal and aggressive war in Europe, Russians are leading a normal life, traveling around Europe and doing tourism,” he stressed.
Source: Observadora
