Schengen visa. File photoATHENA, Aug 20Cyprus opposes a visa ban for Russian citizens, Foreign Ministry Director General Cornelius Corneliou said.
"We issue visas even to Turkish citizens because we believe in contacts between people. In addition, there is a Russian community in Cyprus and other EU countries, and with this measure we will prevent these Russians from contacting their families and friends. We do not believe that such a decision will bring any benefit", he told the Cypriot news agency CNA.
Germany and Greece have the same relationship as Cyprus, Corneliu said. «But we will have to wait for the discussion… (in Prague. — Ed.). And there we will see what the balance will be,» the diplomat noted. He added that this is a re-promotion of an idea that was raised in the past within the Council of Europe through one of the Baltic countries, which caused a lot of backlash.Europe intends to close the window to itself for RussiaIn informal councils, discussions are taking place and decisions are being prepared «for the next day,» and the discussion in Prague on August 30-31 will be very important, Corneliu said. Answering a question, he noted that we could talk about additional initiatives, since in the near future «proposals will be made to strengthen the measures taken against Russia.» The Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stressed that there is free movement of persons in the EU, for Russians to visit the countries of association «contradicts our own principles.» According to him, some partners in the EU are «suspicious» about Cyprus when it comes to Russian interests due to bilateral relations with Moscow, although Nicosia, despite the financial costs incurred, supported all EU sanctions decisions.
Europe lowers the visa «Iron Curtain» Recently, there have been increasing calls in the West to stop issuing visas and block entry for Russians. Such statements were made by the Prime Ministers of Finland and Estonia Sanna Marin and Kaja Kallas. At the same time, Latvia and Estonia announced the cessation of issuing visas to Russians. The latter, however, completely forbade entry on the basis of already issued documents. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the idea of stopping the issuance of visas to citizens of the country chauvinist, and the decision of Tallinn — anti-Estonian. The Baltic countries have been criticized by both the UN and members of the European Parliament. Thus, MP Yana Toom called Estonia's anti-Russian step a manifestation of dementia.