Could Russians be blocked from Schengen Area?

My Russian acquaintance Artyom likes Finland. It has beautiful lakes, friendly people and clean air. He knows the country because he has been there several times. Artyom lives in St. Petersburg and normally uses the simplified visa procedure of the Finnish consulate in his city, which has been in effect for years.

He does that even now, when direct air routes to the European Union are closed off for Russians. Since the invasion of Ukraine, EU airspace has been sealed off to Russian planes. And, in return, EU aircraft are no longer allowed to fly to Russia either.

That's why Artyom drives a car. Every few weekends, he travels to Helsinki and back — a journey of just under 400 kilometers (250 miles) each way, which takes nearly five hours. It's faster if he only drives to Lappeenranta, the largest Finnish city near the Russian border.

Unlike Artyom,thousands of other Russian tourists do not return to their country. . Many of them drive from the Russian border directly to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport to fly further west on vacation.

Locking EU off

According to the Finnish media, Russians have applied for almost 60,000 Finnish visas since the beginning of the war. Most of the applicants for a Schengen visa came from St. Petersburg. And it is precisely this gateway to the European Union that now worries many in the EU. While the Kremlin is bombing Ukrainian cities, Russians cannot possibly enjoy summer vacations within the European Union, officials say.

For months, the Baltic states have ceased being a travel destination for Russians. Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia no longer issue tourist visas to Russian citizens. Latvia now only allows Russians entry in the event of the death of a next of kin.

The heads of government of Finland and Estonia recently called on other EU countries to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. In Finland, 58% of the population no longer wants tourist visas for Russians, according to a poll by the public television station Yle.

EU-wide ban floated

Schengen visas for Russians are to be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague at the end of August. A Schengen visa can be issued for short stays, allowing a person to travel for tourist or business purposes for up to 90 days in any member state of the zone.

The European Union has 27 member states, but not all of them are part of the 26-member Schengen area. Four Schengen countries — Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein — are not members of the European Union.

Dmitry Lanko, of the Department of European Studies at St. Petersburg State University, is critical of "the drive to punish all Russians." He told DW that holders of Russian passports are also "Tatars, Chechens and representatives of all peoples of the Russian Federation without exception, including Ukrainians living in Russia."

EU 'a privilege'

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas upset Twitter uses on both sides of the issue with a post that said: "Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the quote "nonsense" from "Estonian fantasists." She wrote on Telegram that "the real privilege is to be lucky to see Russia in all its diversity and magnificence."

Alexander Gorokhov, of the Union of National and International Tourist Information Organizations, told DW that the war of words is "emotionally driven." He said it was worth remembering that Russian tourists would bring in money, even if merely in transit.

"In my opinion, these countries should fight to transform this flow of transit tourists into a real tourist flow with overnight stays, etc.," Gorokhov said. Governments should not be fighting tourists "because of geopolitics," he said.

In St. Petersburg, Artyom said he would also rather not get caught up in geopolitics, especially as neither he nor his friends would ever have voted for Vladimir Putin. However, he said, he would understand a visa ban.

For now, Artyom is planning a short trip to Lappeenranta this weekend — making use of the opportunity as long as he can.

This article was originally written in German.