German Chancellor Olaf Scholz . File photoBERLIN, Aug 15German Chancellor Olaf Scholz actually repeated the last thesis of Vladimir Zelensky that the EU authorities should not interfere with the visa issue of Russians who are against the government. On August 8, Zelensky called on the EU countries to ban all Russians from entering. In the European Union, these words caused controversy: a number of politicians, in particular the Baltic states, supported them, but a number of representatives of Western European countries noted that this was contrary to EU rules. A week later, Zelensky changed his rhetoric somewhat: he again called for a ban on entry to Russians, but to make exceptions for opponents of the Russian government.Media: The Czech Republic will offer the EU to discuss the ban on Schengen visas for Russians Scholz commented on the issue of visas for Russians at a press conference on Monday after the meeting of the leaders of the Nordic Council in Oslo. He reiterated the repeated words that it was the right decision for the EU «to adopt sanctions against those responsible for the war.» Among the «responsible» he named the oligarchs and those who benefit from the Russian government headed by President Vladimir Putin. «But the fact is that this is not a war of the Russian people, this is Putin's war. We must be clear here,» he added. . The phrase «Putin's war» after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine is often heard from the lips of Western politicians and in European and American media. Answering the question that some countries refuse to issue tourist visas to Russians and whether this is a sign of a weakening of unity in the EU, Scholz said that «the unity of the European Union is preserved.» «It is important that we discuss. In a democratic world, discussions are needed. I think that in different countries there is room for maneuver. This is always the case. And it is also acceptable that we have a discussion at the European level what needs to be done,” said the German Chancellor. According to him, “many people are fleeing Russia” because of disagreement with the authorities. “They fled to many European countries, they fled to countries neighboring Russia. All the decisions that we accept, should not make it more difficult for people to strive for freedom,» he said. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas on August 9 — the day after Zelensky's first statement — said that «visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right» and that «it's time to stop tourism from Russia now.» Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that statements like the words of the Prime Minister of Estonia, as a rule, come from countries that Russia has already recognized as unfriendly. According to him, «in their unfriendliness, many of these countries, of course, go into unconsciousness and reach such statements that literally 80 years ago we heard from the center of Europe, from several European countries.» Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev called the words of the Prime Minister of Estonia «Nazi crap.» Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Callas's statement «nonsense on the verge of nationalism.»
