EU Visa Ban for Russians Draws Criticism from Opposition

Russian opposition figures have reacted with anger and dismay to the European Union’s decision to ban multi-entry visas to the Schengen zone for Russian citizens, announced recently.

“Starting a war and expecting to move freely in Europe is hard to justify,” saeid Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, when announcing the decision last Friday. She added that the stricter rules were a response to Russian drone incursions into European airspace and sabotage attacks linked to Russia.

However, many in the Russian opposition said the move would be counterproductive. “you can’t blame a whole country for the actions of its government,” said Ilya Yashin,a Russian opposition politician who was jailed in late 2022 for opposing the war in Ukraine,in a telephone interview. Yashin was freed in a prisoner exchange last year and now lives in Germany.

Yashin said the visa decision was part of a trend of restricting ordinary Russians in the west,while members of putin’s elite would “always find loopholes if they need to”.

Schengen visas were already tough to obtain for Russians,and some EU countries,such as Poland and Finland,have banned entry to all Russian nationals who do not have residence permits. Many Russian exiles have also found their European bank accounts closed or frozen in recent months.

“There are many anti-war russians and people who want to see changes in Russia. It would be more sensible to work with these people and join forces with them to oppose Putin,” said Yashin.

The exiled Russian journalist Sergey…