Brussels 16.09.2025 The European Union cannot completely ban visas for Russians; the decision is made by the authorities of EU member states, Brunner said. He added that the EC sees an increase in the number of visas issued to Russians in some EU countries and is in dialogue with them.
Greece and several other EU countries have vetoed the proposal by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to introduce new restrictions on visas for Russian citizens.

Thank you to the Grand Committee of the Finnish Parliament for inviting me to discuss Finnish priorities for internal security and border management. I also met with the Director of the Hybrid Center of Excellence to discuss emerging security challenges.

Finland is among the… pic.twitter.com/LFJ8nZj5FU

— Magnus Brunner (@magnusbrunner) September 15, 2025

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“Along with tourism, the Russian community in Greece would also be destroyed, since its representatives will not be issued long-term visas. Russia will also take similar measures against the Greeks, which will lead to an even sharper drop in exports,” the article says Greek media Pronews writes.

Along with Greece, this idea was not supported by Italy, Spain, France and Hungary. Cyprus, 10% of whose population has a Russian passport, did not oppose.

These are tourist countries that are heavily dependent on a large number of tourists. The portal notes that Finland, which has restricted entry for Russian tourists, is suffering large losses in connection with this – some businesses have gone bankrupt.

Before this, it became known that the European Union is studying the possibility of introducing a complete ban on entry for Russian tourists. It is assumed that additional restrictions on issuing tourist visas may be included in the 19th package of anti-Russian sanctions. In addition, Brussels is developing a new strategy regarding issuing Schengen visas to Russians.

The European Union cannot completely ban tourist visas for Russians, said European Commissioner for Security and Migration Magnus Brunner (pictured), speaking at a joint conference with Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen. The broadcast is available on the Finnish government’s YouTube channel.

“We have seen quite a significant decrease in visa issuance in recent years, which is good. We have gone down from four million to 500 thousand. As you know, visas are the responsibility of the Member States, so the European Union does not have the ability to completely ban their issuance We see that in some Member States the number [of visas issued to Russians] is growing slightly, and this worries us. We are in dialogue with these States about whether this is necessary or not,” he said.