Thread by @bctallis

Don't be confused & don't get get sold short
❌this is not a #visaban on Russian tourists ❌

➡️So what did EU Foreign Ministers agree in Prague?
➡️How does it relate to the #visabanforrussians?
➡️What does it mean for EU, Ukraine & Russia?
(Spoiler - trouble ahead)
Short 🧵
/1

https://twitter.com/JosepBorrellF/status/1564969419687841792

EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Prague stopped short of agreeing to implement a #visaban on Russian tourists.

Instead they cancelled the 'Visa Facilitation Agreement' with #Russia that had been in place since 2006.

So what was this facilitation agreement?
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The visa facilitation agreement was a way the EU made it EASIER for Russians, including tourists, to get Schengen short stay Type C Visas. It reduced or eliminated their costs & speeded up processing or reduced requirements for certain kinds of visitors.
No longer ... but ...
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Cancelling the visa facilitation doesn't really do anything meaningful in terms of stopping Russian tourists enjoying themselves in the EU while their country wages a war of aggression & commits war crimes in Ukraine while being actively hostile to us.

/4

The increased costs won't make a difference to the well off tourists whose expensive cars we see parked at the Helsinki airport or shopping on the fanciest streets in Vienna, Amsterdam or Copenhagen. The end of facilitated procedures will hit, inter alia, civil society actors

/5

But that is likely to be compensated for in other ways.

However, the big news of the day is what the EU ministers DIDN'T agree on.

Despite pressure from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania & Poland (& support from Denmark, Netherlands & EU Presidency holder Czechia) ...

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The EU states could not agree on stopping issuing tourist visas to Russians. This basically ignored the practical problems being faced by those at the sharp end of this issue (esp Finland & Estonia) & the argument that it would show our resolve & support for #Ukraine
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Instead it was a win for France, Germany and others who argued (on the first morning of the summit in a memo) that [despite all the evidence of the last 20 years] we should keep giving visas to help promote uptake of #EU values by tourists from #Russia

/8
politico.eu/newsletter/bru…

This triggered a counter move by the countries mentioned above (FI, EE, LV, LT, PL) who stated that were a suitable restriction on Russian tourists (i.e. a #visabanforrussians) be agreed then they would be willing to effectively enact this on their own

https://twitter.com/HenryJFoy/status/1564843504886489092?s=20&t=bgzrC4UUNQUhxA_ltpk0-w

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Along with several other states, including #Czechia, they have already stopped issuing visas to tourists form #Russia.

- Crucially, they can now stop admitting tourists holding Schengen visas issued by other states through their borders (as they are entitled to do).

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This matters because of the flight ban from #Russia to #EU states which 🇷🇺s are circumventing by entering states with which they have a land border (esp FI & EE) and then flying from there to other Schengen countries. Hence the car park full of Mercs, BMWs, etc at Helsinki

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This is what led Finnish FM Haavisto @Haavisto to say that it was unacceptable for #Finland to become a transit state for Russian tourists heading elsewhere and is a major reason behind the calls for a #visaban - border states again bearing the brunt of a common crisis.

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These countries are well within their rights to stop anyone entering whom they believe threatens the
- national security
- public policy
- international relations of any member state.
[summarised from Schengen Borders Cide, Art 6.1(e)]

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It's hard to argue against that, given what #Russia is doing, as @JosepBorrellF acknowledged - these states are well within their rights to do this.

https://twitter.com/HenryJFoy/status/1564995286581350400?s=20&t=bgzrC4UUNQUhxA_ltpk0-w

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What happens when they start turning back tourists heading for other countries is not yet clear.
But it does likely mean that this is not the end of the issue.
There are very different views in the EU on this and that will at some point need to be resolved in common policy

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What is does mean for now is that the #EU has missed the chance to signal strong common resolve against #Russia & in support of #Ukraine - & are still equivocating on boosting our own security & resilience. Some EU states are still too hesitant to use the real power we have.
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It's agina the #NCEE countries (with support from DK, NL) making all the running based on a better grasp of the situation & clearer idea of how the #EU needs to deal with the #Russia we have rather than the Russia certain other member states (esp FR, DE) wish we had.

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The others will be playing catch up as this issue isn't going away until #Russia changes. One step we can take to force that change is to help #Ukraine win & show we're not afraid to use our power to defend ourselves & renew liberal societies
A #visaban wld be a good start.
/END