Zelensky urges EU to ban Russian visas

Zelensky urges EU to ban Russian visas

To prevent the European Union from turning into a “supermarket” accessible to everyone with the means to join, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his appeal Friday for member states to impose visa restrictions on Russian citizens. 

However, Zelensky said his suggestion did not apply to Russians who need assistance because they were putting their lives or freedom in danger by opposing Vladimir Putin’s policies.

In a nightly speech, Zelensky said of visas allowing entry to the borderless Schengen Area that encompasses many EU states: 

“There must be assurances that Russian murders or collaborators of state terror do not utilize Schengen visas.”

Secondly, we must refrain from undermining the basic foundation of Europe, our shared European ideals. Therefore, Europe must not be turned into a supermarket where it doesn’t matter who enters and where the only essential thing is that customers pay for their products. In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Zelensky said that until Russians altered their worldview, they should live in their world and advocated for a visa restriction.