Why was this cynical populist given such a prominent platform & not properly challenged?

Per @vonderburchard: this was a journalistic mess. Classic 🇩🇪Cynicism (like the #Emma letter)

Such a stunt only serves to corrode our democracies - exactly what we should be pushing back on
This is exactly the kind of thing that undermines our societies - it seems to show that you can free ride on democracy, parasite on the decency of others & get away with it. A bad example.
orban should be shut down rather than celebrated (🇭🇺 out of 🇪🇺unless it changes it’s ways)
Certainly we need serious reform & reinvention in our own societies - but we also need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. This was just a dumb exercise. If we reduce politics to this kind of sorry piss-taking spectacle we will reap what we sow. We will suffer & so will 🇺🇦
There’s nothing to be admired or celebrated in this sorry cynicism which finds its corollary in those who benefit from liberal rights, freedoms & democracy while denouncing them (Welzer, Guerot, et al).

Instead we should look to the myriad examples of #NeoIdealism around us.
From🇺🇦s struggling not only to survive but to thrive by defending democracy & freedom m, to the leaders around Europe (in eg 🇪🇪🇨🇿🇱🇹🇱🇻🇫🇮) who refuse to indulge Putin & who stand for a better liberal future. We’ve much to do but we can see a way to do it
- & it’s not orban’s

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More from @bctallis

Sep 22
Unless you think ppl avoiding their military call-ups are tourists then #Russia's #PartialMobilization doesn't really change much with regard to the #visaban.
There are, however, ongoing issues to consider that the #EU & its member states should address promptly.
A🧵/1
The proposed '#visaban', which has now been implemented de facto by several #EU states (which border #Russia) was intended to stop Russian *tourists* from entering the Schengen zone. There are very good reasons for this - as I outlined here /2
And those reasons for the #visaban for *tourists* still stand:
1. To support #Ukraine & shorten the war
2. To bolster #EU states' security & resilience
3. To use our power to stand up for our democracies
/3
bylinetimes.com/2022/08/30/eu-…
Read 24 tweets
Sep 21
There’s been talk of a ‘new Iron Curtain’ in Europe
- but we shouldn’t use this metaphor as it has divisive potential of its own.

In @foreignpolicy @minna_alander & I explain why we shouldn’t lazily stoke East-West divisions that only help #Putin 1/4
foreignpolicy.com/2022/09/19/eur…
It’s wrong to describe the #visaban as creating a new Iron Curtain &, while history matters, it hasn’t determined which countries want to block to or allow Russian tourists into the Schengen zone (as eg 🇳🇱🇩🇰 show with their support & 🇭🇺 with its opposition). 2/4
Similarly, throwing around outdated East-West distinctions on attitudes to #Russia & war (contradicted by eg🇬🇧) doesn’t help anyone except #Putin- it makes history determinative, falsely divides us & questions CEE’s place in the ‘West’ 3/4
Read 4 tweets
Aug 31
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
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?
/2
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 ...
/3
Read 18 tweets
Aug 30
No chance. #Ukraine provides the real example of positive change via P2P engagement & exposure. BUT ignoring tourist visas (for now), we should be very open to *emigration* from this cohort. Let the brain drain commence & let them vote with their feet if they really oppose Putin.
No one should get to live parasitically from our democracy going back & forth while merely claiming to oppose. Gotta commit. What happens in #Russia is Secondary to support for #Ukraine & what happens in #EU states when considering the #visaban.
#visaban is not about change in #Russia- that’s not happening anytime soon & only a crushing defeat has a chance of spurring it on. Change through exposure has failed in this case & should be put on hold until circumstances change.
Read 4 tweets
Aug 28
This week (30-31/08) EU Foreign Ministers meet in #Prague where they'll discussion the #visaban.

I've worked on issues relating to visas, borders & EU foreign & security policy for 2 decades.

Here's what you need to know
- & why you should SUPPORT the #visabanforrussians
🧵/1
You can lobby your government to support this - including on Twitter.
No one (sensible) is talking about banning all Russians from EU states. For which visas would be affected see here

/2
So, what is the point of the #visaban?

1. To support #Ukraine & shorten the war
2. To bolster #EU states' security & resilience
3. To use our power to stand up for our democracies

So how does that work?

/3
Read 25 tweets
Aug 25
@rynkrynk Since I worked for the EU in Ukraine after the Orange Revolution I felt that the country hadn’t been given a fair shot, and was being used for EU interests (actually a self-defeating move that led to a lose-lose situation), which ultimately led me to resign from my job & 1/2
@rynkrynk to try to understand how & why this came to be. (Via academic research). The more I knew the more I saw how most Ukrainians, against the odds, wanted & strove to improve their lives & their country. I tried to find ways to support that process & advised on visa liberalisation
@rynkrynk I used my research to inform that process, which remains something I’m really happy to have done. More recently (as I’ve written in a number of places) Ukraine has shown other Europeans what it means to stand up for democracy & self determination, for freedom & human rights
Read 5 tweets

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