During the traditional evening address, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Czech Republic, the Baltic states and other European countries that brought to the official level discussions in the European Union on visas for citizens of a terrorist state.
“After everything that the occupiers have done in Ukraine, there can be only one attitude towards Russia - as a terrorist state.. And, by the way, it is from this point of view that one should be determined in relation to the citizens of Russia, ”he noted..
According to Zelensky, people in need of protection, persecuted in Russia, whose lives are in danger, exist. They must receive assistance through existing legal mechanisms: through refugee, asylum and other.
" And this does not apply to the rest of Russian citizens in Europe, tourism, entertainment, business.. You cannot work for a terrorist state,” he explained..
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Zelensky stressed that there must be a mechanism so that the killers and their accomplices would not be able to use the Schengen. In addition, he warned against destroying the very idea of \u200b\u200bEurope and its values..
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“You can’t turn Europe into a supermarket, where it doesn’t matter who enters it, and most importantly, that a person pays. Therefore, visa restrictions for Russian citizens are fair. All defenders of European values \u200b\u200bshould insist on them,"
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Earlier it was reported that on August 5, Bulgaria and Latvia suspended the issuance of visas to Russians..
In particular, Bulgaria took countermeasures in response to the expulsion of 14 Bulgarian diplomats from Russia..
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipovsky supported the suspension of the issuance of visas to Russian citizens to the EU countries.
Despite the fact that a number of EU member states support the suspension of visa issuance for tourists from the Russian Federation, there will probably not be a consensus on this issue at the upcoming Prague meeting of EU foreign ministers.