Bloc split on visa ban for Russian tourists

PRAGUE－European Union nations were divided on Tuesday over whether to slap a broad visa ban on Russian citizens following Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is chairing the talks, has said that a visa ban on all Russians is unlikely to be agreed on.

He urged bickering nations to settle their differences on the issue on Wednesday.

Among the member states, Germany and France are leading a push to tighten visa restrictions, rather than impose an outright ban.

They said that the EU should avoid penalizing ordinary Russians, as the conflict passed six months.

"We caution against far-reaching restrictions on our visa policy, in order to prevent feeding the Russian narrative and trigger unintended rallying around the flag effects and/or estranging future generations," France and Germany said in a joint memo seen by Reuters.

However, calls have mounted from, notably, Poland and the Baltic countries－Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania－for a broader ban on Russian tourists.

As a temporary compromise, Borrell said the ministers might agree in principle on suspending a visa facilitation agreement, which would mean Russians facing a longer procedure and having to pay more for their EU visas.

Finland, which has a long land border with Russia and says it does not want to become a hub for Russian tourists entering the EU, has sharply cut the number of visas it grants them.

In August, Estonia closed its border to more than 50,000 Russians with previously issued visas, the first EU country to do so.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it would respond if the EU makes it harder for Russians to travel to the bloc as part of measures in support of Ukraine.

"We know that there are different views among Europeans on the matter. We will follow this closely. This is a very serious decision that could be directed against our citizens," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

'Mix of irrationality'

"Of course, such decisions cannot remain without an answer. Step by step, Brussels and individual European capitals demonstrate an absolute lack of reason… This mix of irrationality, bordering on the insane, allows for such decisions (on visas) to be discussed."

The International Atomic Energy Agency mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine arrived in the city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday. The mission is expected to visit the nuclear plant on Thursday morning.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with visiting International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi on Tuesday to discuss the IAEA mission to the plant, the presidential press service reported.

At the talks, Zelensky and Grossi stressed the importance of sending the IAEA mission to the plant, noting that any incident at the facility would have global consequences.

In another development, Russia's largest gas producer Gazprom temporarily halted gas deliveries through Nord Stream 1 pipeline for scheduled maintenance from Wednesday to Saturday, TASS reported on Wednesday.

Agencies - Xinhua