Overview
- EU officials are finalizing a package of visa-restriction proposals that the European Commission plans to table in January, after pressure from Poland, Sweden and Estonia.
- The push targets multiple-entry Schengen tourist visas because officials say they let holders travel in and out without repeated vetting, creating potential openings for Moscow-linked hostile activity.
- Last year about 478,000 Schengen tourist visas were issued to Russian citizens, many as multiple-entry permits that the Commission and some capitals now see as a vulnerability.
- Estonia has publicly proposed an outright ban on roughly 650,000 former Russian servicemen, and migration chief Magnus Brunner has urged member states to issue fewer visas while the Commission prepares formal text.
- Any bloc-wide change will face legal and operational review and could mean tougher checks at consulates, reduced travel for ordinary Russians and new limits on diplomats’ movements within the EU.