Eastern EU countries bordering Russia have threatened to take "

The statement of the five member states came on the eve of a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers to discuss the issue of restricting the issuance of visas to Russian citizens, which sharply divided the 27 members of the EU.

In a joint statement seen by the Financial Times, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania demand that the European Commission propose "

“Until such measures are introduced at the EU level, we will consider establishing temporary measures at the national level to address the inevitable public safety concerns associated with the increased flow of Russian citizens across our borders,” the statement said..

The statement ups the stakes for discussing the issue as Brussels seeks to maintain unity while continuing to punish Russia for its war against Ukraine..

“It is our national competence to decide the issue of entry into our territory in accordance with the principle of national security,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told reporters..

Some 700,000 Russians have entered these five countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February.. Most of them are tourists who use border countries as gateways for holiday trips to Western EU countries..

“We believe that this could become a serious threat to public safety,” the five countries said in a joint statement, which also stressed the need to maintain “exceptions for dissidents, as well as other humanitarian cases.”.

“We need to continue to support the opponents of the Putin regime and give them the opportunity to leave Russia,” the countries said.

Countries such as Germany and France oppose visa bans for Russians and warn against " They urged the bloc to “carefully screen visa applications submitted by Russian citizens for potential security risks.”.

EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell, who chairs the meeting of foreign ministers, said the bloc "

“We know that different member countries have different positions. I will work for a common position, a common position,” he said..

In the absence of a consensus on a ban, EU foreign ministers are using the meeting in Prague to negotiate a suspension of the visa facilitation agreement with Moscow, making it harder for Russians to obtain visas..

Five EU countries have said the suspension is a "

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said his country would wait for the results of the meeting to see how to proceed.

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Russia denounces calls for visa ban as 'completely unfounded'.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the proposed measures are "

There are doubts whether an appropriate decision will actually be made, because there is no unanimity on this issue among the EU countries..