Latvian PM calls to cancel all EU tourist visas for Russians

Latvia’s prime minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, has called on EU leaders to stop all tourist visas for Russians, reigniting the debate about further tightening sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Speaking to the Guardian, Kariņš rejected the idea that allowing Russians seeking to evade the draft to enter the EU would be a way to weaken the Kremlin’s armed forces. He said it was understandable that many men would not wish “to go and fight and likely die in Ukraine” and this could trigger a “potential huge immigration wave coming from Russia”, but contended that posed a security risk to Europe. “I think the political dissenters have mostly already left. Then there will be economic opportunists, many, many other reasons and people with unknown loyalties.”

Latvia, along with Poland, its two Baltic neighbours and Finland, has closed to Russian tourists and has been urging the rest of the EU to do the same – so far without success. France and Germany are reluctant to end tourist visas, fearing it would block the exit of Russians who oppose Putin’s regime. The European Commission last month issued guidance calling for tighter security checks when issuing visas to Russians.

Kariņš said it was “important that we always keep the side door open for humanitarian reasons, but these need to be looked at on a case-by-case basis”. Riga hosts banned independent Russian media outlets such as TV channel Dozhd, Novaya Gazeta Europe and the Meduza website, which was founded in the Latvian capital in 2014 by a Russian journalist sacked for her coverage of Crimea. Many of these outlets are blocked from the transmission into Russia. Kariņš said: “We have allowed and welcomed these people to work … so that a free, non-Kremlin-dominated Russian press could still exist and broadcast to inform their compatriots.”