Russians on the Estonian border will be canceled Schengen visas issued by other countries. Two Russian citizens have already reported similar cases, Ksenia Sobchak writes on Telegram, posting photos provided by women.
A Russian woman named Svetlana tried to cross the border in Narva on August 14 on a St. Petersburg-Riga bus. However, the Estonian border guards conducted an inspection of things, after which they canceled the two-year Greek Schengen and did not let her into the EU. At the same time, the woman noted that she did not have a return ticket, which became a formal reason for the border guards.
“After a thorough and inconclusive search (I don’t know what they were trying to find) and a three-hour wait, they took out my passport with a crossed-out visa. They explained that without a return ticket they would not let me in - I might not return. I suggested to them that I would immediately buy a ticket online - it did not help. On what basis will my visa of another state be canceled? I was told that they are the masters here and have the right to do so. They behaved arrogantly, the girl constantly raised her voice at me, not hiding her irritation.
On August 11, another Sobchak channel subscriber said that Estonian border guards at the border in Narva carefully check and inspect Russian citizens, and at the slightest suspicion, visas are canceled. Then another Russian woman, Ekaterina, had her five-year Schengen visa canceled because of “suspicions of currency smuggling.” The woman tried to enter the EU on August 9 with her husband, they had 9,500 euros in cash with them. According to the Estonian border guards, this is too much (tourists fit into the official limit of 10,000 euros).
The security forces also became interested in the different registration addresses of Ekaterina and her husband when applying for a visa: the woman received it in 2019, when she did not know her common-law husband. According to her, the "chief" at the checkpoint told them that they were "liars and carriers." The Russians returned to Kingisepp, left half of the money to their friends, and went to cross the border again. However, they were made to wait for about three hours, after which their visas were cancelled. The woman concluded that the border guards were “looking for a reason not to let them in.”
Estonia has already stopped issuing Schengen visas to Russian citizens. You can only enter the republic with a visa issued by another EU country. On August 9, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that visiting Europe is not a right, but a privilege, and called for an end to the issuance of tourist visas to Russians. Prior to this, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania also stopped issuing Schengen visas to Russians. Denmark and the Netherlands have stopped issuing short-stay visas. Finland announced that it will reduce the issuance of tourist visas to Russian citizens from September 1 by ten times. At the same time, Germany opposed the ban on issuing visas to Russian citizens.
After the decisions of the countries, the representative of the European Commission (EC), Anitta Hipper, once again stated that the European Union will not completely stop issuing Schengen visas to Russian citizens. They will continue to be issued for humanitarian reasons.
