Abstract:

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, individuals holding Russian passports have become target of legislative changes, specifically designed by EU Member States to limit entry and residence rights of this group. Evidence- and individual-based approaches towards this category has been substituted by an approach where Russian citizens are portrayed as a security threat and assigned collective responsibility for Putin’s actions.

The most visible EU-level step in this regard has been the suspension of the EU-Russia Visa Facilitation Agreement in September 2022, following which Russian citizens face longer visa processing times and extra checks. Moreover, EU Member States are allowed to deprioritise applicants whose reason for travel is not considered ‘essential’. Poland, the Baltic States and Finland, however, went much further and – in breach of the Schengen Borders Code – unilaterally introduced a nearly absolute entry ban on Russian citizens, including holders of short-term Schengen visas issued by other Member States.

The paper provides an overview of the practical implications of such measures for Russian citizens and offers room for comparison with the approaches adopted by other states, such as Central Asian countries. The paper argues that the EU imposed entry restrictions have targeted a much larger group of individuals than those who, in the words of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, ‘travel[led] to the EU for leisure and shopping as if no war was raging in Ukraine’. The first group particularly disadvantaged in this regard are those fleeing the oppressive regime, all the more so because since February 2022 the human rights situation in Russia has significantly deteriorated. Among other categories, the entry restrictions affect Russian citizens fleeing military draft whose options to claim protection in the EU are now extremely limited – particularly given that several Member States have expressly refused to issue humanitarian visas to this category. The second group severely impacted by the restrictive measures are Russian family members of EU citizens and residents, including Ukrainian refugees living in the EU – contrary to the governments’ reassurances that this would not be the case.