Finland has formally proposed that the European Union stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens altogether until Moscow ends its war against Ukraine. The call came from Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen.
Finland itself stopped issuing visas to Russians for non-essential travel, including tourism, back in 2022. Helsinki now wants the whole EU to follow suit. «As long as Russia continues its aggression, tourist visas should not be issued to its citizens,» Valtonen said. In her view, it is unacceptable for Russians to holiday in Europe and enjoy its freedoms while their country bombs Ukrainians’ homes.
European ministers will also discuss a second option: issuing all Russians visas with limited territorial validity (LTV). Such a visa names the specific countries where the holder may stay, and travel to any other Schengen state counts as a breach of visa rules. The issue is on the agenda of the EU Council meeting on October 14. In a letter to the European Commission, Valtonen wrote that she would back LTV visas, but only as a temporary measure.
Since 2024, EU countries have increasingly been issuing such visas to Russians to limit their movement around Europe. What is pushing the bloc to tighten the rules further is the hybrid war Moscow is waging on EU territory. Sabotage is becoming more frequent and more brazen, and European security services warn that it could cost lives. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told the Financial Times that he shakes with anger when, after seeing footage of children killed in Kyiv, he hears about Russian tourists throwing money around in Europe.
German investigators believe that one of the organisers of the attempted drone sabotage at Leipzig airport was a Belarusian holding a Russian passport. He entered Germany on a tourist visa.
This week, EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg will discuss restrictions on tourist visas and on the movement of Russian diplomats. The issue will then go to the bloc’s leaders. According to Politico, the European Commission will present its final proposals in January. Sweden, Estonia and several other countries back the hard line taken by Finland and Poland. France, Italy and Spain issue the most tourist visas to Russians. In 2025, Russian citizens received around 478,000 Schengen tourist visas.
Finland’s proposal is the most sensible step available under the circumstances. A state that wages war on its neighbour and carries out sabotage in Europe cannot expect its citizens to travel freely around the EU on holiday. The tourist visa has become a convenient way for Russian intelligence services to send saboteurs and couriers into Europe. The Leipzig case proves it.
But closing the door to tourists is not enough. Russians who already live in Europe on residence permits or who have obtained EU citizenship pose no smaller threat. Among them are many Kremlin officials and businessmen, as well as officers and agents of the Russian intelligence services. All of them must be checked. They are a direct threat to the security of the European Union.
In Cyprus there are dozens of such people. After amendments to the migration law lobbied by Russian IT businessmen, many Russians came to the island on work visas. Among them are many career officers of the Russian intelligence services and recruited agents, and many obtained residence permits using forged documents. Since the start of the war, the number of Russians holding residence permits in Cyprus has grown 2.5 times.
As long as these people remain in Europe, ending tourist visas will solve the problem only in part.
Read more:
An undercover GRU spy has been operating in Cyprus for five years under the guise of a Ukrainian refugee
A Russian intelligence hub in Nicosia: MEP urges the EU to take a closer look at the “Russian House” in Cyprus
The FSB’s oasis in the European Union
Schengen corridor for Russian intelligence agents