Sybiha: Tightening visa rules for Russians in EU is response to escalation of Russia's hybrid threats
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha has said that tightening visa rules for Russian citizens in the European Union is a justified response to the escalation of hybrid threats from Russia.
"We welcome the EU's long-awaited move to tighten visa rules for Russian nationals. We have been advocating for this for a long time. This is a well-justified and effective measure to strengthen the security of every European family in response to Russia escalating hybrid threats," he said on the X social network on Friday.
Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak also reacted to the European Commission's decision, noting that Russia has long been waging a hybrid war against European and other democratic countries.
"Russia has long been waging a hybrid war against European and other democratic countries: terrorist attacks against military facilities and critical infrastructure, political assassinations, bribing politicians and political parties, influencing elections, inflaming conflicts with mass propaganda, attacks using provoked waves of migrants, and recently – constant violation of sovereign airspace by airplanes and drones. Therefore, for the safety of their own citizens, all democratic countries should adopt much stricter rules for admitting Russian citizens to their territory. And this should have been done much earlier," he said in Telegram channel.
In his opinion, it is also necessary to completely ban for life all persons who fought against Ukraine and their family members from entering the EU. "Those who calmly killed Ukrainians and supported this can kill anyone again. They prove this almost every day also inside Russia – they kill and rape their fellow citizens," Yermak added.
According to information, the decision of the European Commission to cancel multiple-entry visas for Russian citizens will not affect visas already issued, it will come into force on November 8 and will have exceptions, said the official representative of the EC Markus Lammert.
He specified that only multiple-entry visas are canceled, single-entry visas will be issued, but under stricter control.
Lammert also explained that exceptions to the general decision are allowed. In particular, close relatives of Russian citizens living in the EU and family members who have EU citizenship will be able to receive a one-year multiple-entry visa. Transport workers may be issued a nine-month visa "in justified cases."
