Estonia Closes Border for Russians, Latvia Declares Moscow Sponsor of Terrorism
New Delhi: The Estonian authorities have decided to ban Russian citizens with Estonia-issued Schengen visas from entering its territory, Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told a government news briefing on Thursday.
“In a week from now the sanction will be applied to Schengen visas issued by Estonia. Visa holders from Russia will be subject to restrictions. They will be denied entry to Estonia,” he said.
Reinsalu added that many exceptions would be made to this rule. In particular, the staffers of diplomatic offices in Estonia and their families, as well as persons engaged in international transportation or having the right to free movement under EU laws will be exempt from the ban. Also, the restrictions will not apply to persons whose entry into Estonia is necessary for humanitarian reasons and close relatives of the country’s citizens or holders of Estonia’s permanent residence permit.
Reinsalu said that Estonia had data on more than 50,000 valid Schengen visas issued to Russian citizens.
Earlier, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that she considered it necessary to ban the issuance of EU tourist visas to Russian citizens. Later, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said that a proposal to that effect had been submitted for discussion in the EU. A representative of the European Commission, while commenting on the possibility of such restrictions on Thursday, told the media that the EU countries must comply with their international obligations and ensure the issuance of visas to members of the EU citizens’ families, and humanitarian workers, journalists, and residents. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in reply to Kallas’s proposal that many countries that Moscow had already declared unfriendly, displayed amnesia in their unfriendliness.
On the other side, The Parliament of Latvia (the Saeima) has declared Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, the parliament said in a statement published on its official website on Thursday.
On August 11, the Saeima adopted a statement, which recognizes the activities of Russian troops in Ukraine as terrorism and declares “Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.”
“The Saeima’s statement calls on EU countries to immediately suspend the issuance of tourist and entry visas to Russian and Belarusian citizens,” the statement reads.
Members of the Latvian Parliament state that Russia allegedly “has for many years supported and financed terrorist regimes and organizations in various ways — directly and indirectly.”
The statement also reads that “the MPs strongly condemn the military aggression and large-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation with the support and involvement of the Belarusian regime and call on the Euro-Atlantic community and its partners to urgently intensify and implement comprehensive sanctions against Russia.”
The situation along the line of engagement in Donbas escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.
On February 21, President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance with their leaders. Moscow recognized the Donbas republics by the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.
Russian President Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbas republics for assistance he had decided to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.
The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kyiv’s control.
(Vinayak)
