EU Commission says it cannot impose visa ban on Russians
The European Commission lacks the authority to impose a blanket ban on issuing visas to Russian citizens, Commission spokesman Markus Lammert said during a briefing in Brussels on Thursday.
Lammert explained that decisions on visa issuance rest solely with EU member states, not the Commission. “The European Commission can take a tougher or more favorable stance on the issuance of multiple-entry visas by individual countries, but it cannot dictate to them,” he noted, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
He added that Brussels is currently “looking into additional measures” to further restrict Schengen visa issuance for Russian nationals, in coordination with EU member states.
The spokesman recalled that the visa facilitation agreement with Russia was suspended in 2022, with the Commission recommending that member states limit the number of visas granted.
Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EU countries issued more than 4 million visas to Russian citizens in 2019. By 2023, that number had dropped sharply to 500,000, according to Lammert. He did not specify the figures for 2024 or 2025.
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