Nausėda vows to press EU to restrict Russian tourist visas

Lithuania will keep urging European Union countries to tighten visa rules for Russian citizens, President Gitanas Nausėda said in Brussels, LRT reported. He said Lithuania would repeatedly raise the issue despite opposition from some member states.

“We will be persistent and will not let the countries opposing this listen comfortably or calmly to the arguments,” Nausėda told reporters. He said Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was also raising the issue and hoped support would grow until the EU reached a “critical mass” for a decision.

A proposed ban on visas for Russian citizens who took part in the aggression against Ukraine was left out of the EU’s 21st sanctions package after some member states objected. They said the restriction would be difficult to enforce. France and southern EU countries, which are among the states issuing the most visas to Russian citizens, were also among those opposing the proposal.

Nausėda said he did not understand why Russians continued to travel around Europe as tourists while their country was waging war against Ukraine and threatening European security. He called for an end to the EU’s liberal visa policy for Russian citizens and said about 500,000 tourist visas were issued each year.

The president also called for Russia’s continued isolation in sport and culture. He criticised efforts to bring Russian athletes back to international competitions and the possibility of Moscow’s CSKA returning to the EuroLeague. Nausėda said people in Lithuania would not allow the club to enter the country and would make sure it did not come to Kaunas to play Kauno Žalgiris. He said commercial interests were too often being put ahead of human values.