Well given the last time a bunch of obnoxious Russian tourists showed up in Finland, their attitude is wholly understandable.
this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2026
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Should have been suspended ever since the poisoning of litvinenko.
Or the terrorist attacks. Or funding right wing extremism. Or funding brexit. Or being slimy imperial fascists.
Even if the EU countries would agree, this does not seem realistic to me, when considering countries like Switzerland. They are located in the middle of the EU and the popular right wing people’s party of Switzerland is supposed to have ties to Russia. Borders to neighbouring countries have several points that are hardly controlled, especially to France.
Source: living next to the border and travelling frequently to neighbouring countries each year by car.
Switzerland is a Schengen country, so a ban of Schengen tourist visas for Russians would mean they also can't apply for swiss tourist visas, as swiss visas are Schengen visas, i.e. the same rules apply. So unless switzerland exits Schengen, which would require a popular vote, it shouldn't matter.
Heck, you are right about Schengen, but I am not sure about the requirement of a popular vote in this case. In article 17 about the agreement between the EU and Switzerland it is written that Switzerland can terminate the agreement. There is nothing mentioned about the referendum. Digging deeper in Swiss laws, the Federal Office clearly states an “optional” referendum, NOT a mandatory one.
Oh I did not know that.
Though I have no doubt an optional referendum would happen (it just needs 50k signatures). Plus the SVP, while the biggest party, is only like 30% of government, so it's doubtful they could push this through by themselves.
Resigning from schengen contract would also mean that swiss people couldn't travel freely across the Europe. That would be way bigger problem than the potential handful of Russian tourists around there as it's not that uncommon to go across country borders on your grocery shopping. I very much doubt that Swizerland would shoot itself on both feet, no matter how strong ties someone around there might have to Russia.
Not only that but I feel like if they stopped following EU rules on this, those "uncontrolled" border crossings would become a whole lot more controlled.
When I first read this, I felt, "yeah, fuck those guys" But thinking more about it, the elite Russians with actual power already have residency or citizenship in EU. Spies can enter EU without the tourist visa. This might end up just impacting the anti-Z Russians.
Meh, how useful is a tourist visa for an asylum seeker? I think that's what we should support them with.
Very useful, ask any LGBT refugee from Russia or Belarus in Spain, Germany, Netherlands or almost any other EU country.
Do you need tourist visa to ask for asylum? All the people crossing border in Ceuta ask for asylums without visas. Once you crossed the border it doesn't matter if you have a visa or not, you can request asylum. And I think Russia/Belarus/Macedonia/whatever will not stop you from leaving if you don't have a EU visa. You will be able to reach EU and as for asylum without a visa.
Just recently a man crossed the border from Kaliningrad to get asylum in Lietuva (not the best option but it was the closest). He got denied and now he's facing jail time in Russia for his social media posts.
If you have a RIGHT to apply it doesn't mean you're gonna get approved. There are some anecdotes for denying Russians asking for asylum (or another type of visa, I don't recall exactly) for having a criminal record in Russia for the exact thing they were trying to run away from (it's usually donations or social media posts "discrediting" russian army)!
Yes, but if he had tourist visa he would still be denied this asylum and deported, right? Tourist visa might help him stay in EU illegally but it would not help him get asylum.
Bureaucracy is a bitch, unfortunately. Sometimes it's much better, according to immigration "experts" (people who analyze asylum cases and help with all the docs), to arrive as a tourist and try to find a time slot to present the case.
That's fair.
Thank you for thinking a bit more than a regular reactionist. This ban will hardly help with EU's "defense", and it's certainly not going to make an ordinary Russian angrier at their government because it's too fucking expensive to go to EU anyway.
Yeah, some middle-class moskali will cry about it a bit, but above everything else it will make leaving Russia for people in danger more difficult. But yeah, it's gonna give an illusion that EU finally does something decisive for Ukraine (cough-cough, >4.5 years of the invasion).
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As someone with several close Russian friends, on of whom just had a baby, doing this would suck, a lot.
Most already can't go to Russia themselves, this would cut them off from their families completely.
It’s not about them. It’s about protecting ourselves
Also sucks when Russia sends out sabotagers and spies disguised as tourists during a war while simultaneously trying to instigate war with NATO.
They can claim asylum then if they can't go to Russia.
True. Russia absolutely can't find a bunch of Central-Asian looking guys with Kazakhstani passports instead. Impossible.
They can claim asylum then if they can't go to Russia.
Perhaps you should read comments more carefully before attempting to answer them.
Spies will find other ways to enter.
This kind of things impact only everyday people. This is kinda the point of this type of measures: the idea is to pressure people to rebel to their governments. But I think Russians are not exactly optimistic this can be done (despite having their fair share of protests that end in Siberians prisons)
Obviously but why make it easy for them? Russia is becoming more and more desperate as this conflict has entered a stalemate. Their sabotage attacks on Europe are ramping up so it is stupid that we are laying out a red carpet for these guys to roll in on.
That’s kinda really bad… maybe disallow tourist visas but still allow asylum seekers/emigrators. (Both use first visas as an excuse to leave russia)
Ah yeah, it will save so many lives and stop the war within 24 hours. I can't even begin to describe how idiotic this is
Good. Fuck the russians. My grandparents always said "ryssä on ryssä vaikka voissa paistais." Which means "a russian is a russian even if you fry them in butter." They never forgot what the soviets did to our country.
My own grandmother said the same and I understand why she said that, but in the end it's just essentialist bs and xenophobia which we would be better off without in this day and age. Putin and his cronies are the only ones who will thank anyone who tries to keep his political enemies out of his reach.
I have a couple Russian friends. They're good people, hard working, ethical, considerate.
Just like I have a few American friends who are good.
YES, there are shitty Russians, and shitty Americans. Hell, there are even shitty Canadians.
But hating an entire country because of their government is just bigotry.
Judge people by their actions, not their government.
The government alone does not explain everything. There are deep-running cultural differences between Russia and for example Finland. It's not like Russia would magically change if the government was replaced. Most likely it would eventually go back to being the country it currently is.
Just like the cultural issues in US won't be fixed by replacing the president.
I guess it's the same for every country.
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Poland and Ukraine also never forgets. And Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, and
YEAH! Fuck everyone! Fuck every person born in a wrong place! Or in a wrong family! Or with a "wrong" sexuality/gender/race!
Based at the start, fuck everyone who blindly serves their authoritarian government
And you feel good inheriting that hatred? There's a big difference between the general Russian population (those who will be affected by this ban) and Kremlin.
Let's be better than our ancestors.
Do you know the kind of generational trauma caused by rape, torture, dispossession and murder? Because that's what I've inherited, and yes, as a result I don't want anything to do with any russians.
Was it the kremlin who raped, tortured and murdered in Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol and other places in their current war? Or was it "normal" russians?
And where does this cycle of hatred end? Do you think the "normal" Russians (soldiers, prisoners, mercenaries) would do these things, like rape, if they didn't believe either that you deserved it, or that you are not worthy of compassion? Where does this come from, you think?
And how does this translate to tourists? Do they share this perspective? Why do they travel to countries which they know support "the enemy"?
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Yep that's a massive security hole.
Yes, average Russians must face the consequences of the war, there's no point in shielding them. But this move will cost EU tourist money so it's down to cost-benefit estimates.
As for other reasons, spies will have multiple passports. Russian oligarchs are sanctioned already. Russia is recruiting people inside EU and Ukraine for terrorist attacks, they don't have to enter EU at all to do it.
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