“Europe canceled me, and it would be nice for her to think about how to please me again” vs “Europe doesn’t owe us anything, it wants to fence itself off from us and forget about us, and it can be understood.” Approximately such disputes are being conducted on Facebook, and this particular dispute is not between those who remained in Russia and those who left it, but between those who remained and those who remained. I tend to agree with the second opinion, but with some reservations.
Several European countries have suspended the issuance of tourist visas to Russians (with some nuances and for various reasons): the Baltic states, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Malta, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Netherlands. Finland is leaning towards a similar solution. It became more difficult to get a Polish visa; Slovenia, Norway, Cyprus have changed the rules for issuing visas to Russians. In short, those who do not have or have expired a “European” visa will find it much more difficult to get to Europe. If the visa is valid, then everything is OK, but you may well be stopped upon arrival in a European country and your creditworthiness checked – confirmation of money in a bank account (not Russian) or cash at the rate of 100 euros per day.
Typically, creditworthiness is checked when issuing visas. I don’t remember a single case when border guards did this on arrival in European countries. As you understand, there are more visa zones than one, a variety of people from various countries with completely different levels of income or without it at all arrive in Europe, but this has always been a problem for those who issue visas. Such questions to the Russians came as a surprise to them. And it’s humiliating, in my opinion. Just as the whole mess with the issuance / non-issuance of visas, the variety of rules, their change literally on the fly, the lack of a unified legal framework, and so on, is rather humiliating.
Fencing off Russia is the easiest and most logical option under the circumstances
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Of course, it’s all about the war. The rockets launched by Vladimir Putin on February 24 at Kyiv were also launched at Russians, their future, their opportunities, rights, freedoms, prospects, not only within the country, but also abroad. This realization comes gradually. Some people don’t care at all, but we are still talking about those who are used to living in an open world. Blocked cards, the inability to pay for the usual western services, the cancellation of flights to Europe, the withdrawal of familiar brands from the country, the lack of spare parts for foreign cars, and so on. The narrowing of opportunities and the deterioration of the quality of life, and this is only the beginning of a difficult path of sanctions.
165 days of war is still a hot phase. During these days, tens of thousands of people died in Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians left the country, the world learned about the killings of civilians, mourned the innocent victims, was horrified by Buche, violence, looting. Europe has received an unprecedented number of refugees. The realization that Russia is doing in the center of Europe is also coming to the Europeans gradually, as, excuse the banality, information comes in. “Go to hell!” says Europe, watching with horror what is happening, with shame for past shamelessness, to begin with, blocking with sanctions those Russians whom it has licked all these years, whose money did not smell, whose closeness to Putin did not bother anyone. “It’s not a pity,” says Europe, and blocks the bank accounts of everyone with Russian passports to the heap. “Were we not open and friendly towards the Russians?” – says Europe, opening the doors to war-torn Ukrainians, while narrowing or blocking the entry of people with passports of the aggressor country. This is not the time to figure out who is good, who is bad, who is for, who is against, who runs, who goes to swim in the sea, who leaves forever, who is for a year or two. Rules change at the speed of the pulse. As my friend says, covid taught me. You can suddenly cancel flights, stop the flow of tourists, put on fundamental rights of freedom, close borders. Because the war (which, by the way, was also called the pandemic).
Europe has not stopped loving us. The Kremlin has done everything possible to make it the desire of the outside world to isolate itself from Russia. This seems to be the easiest and most logical option under the circumstances. But let’s still put the flags so as not to humiliate anyone and so that everyone understands: this is possible for Russians, but this is not. If you do not want to give visas, formulate uniform new rules and announce them officially. If you don’t want a unified one, declare that there will be no unified one, and such and such countries are ready to issue visas, but such and such are not. If you want to check money with Russians upon arrival, announce it officially so that visitors are ready. I don’t know how all this is consistent with liberte, egalite and fraternite, with EU codes and rules, with human rights and freedom of movement, but the current situation, when de jure is one thing, and de facto another, nevertheless cannot continue.
I hope something will become clearer at the end of August, when the issue of granting visas to Russians will be considered by the heads of EU foreign affairs agencies. And this is not an easy question at all. We are talking about changing the rules after a quarter of a century regarding the free movement of Russians around the world, including their life in Europe. The task of expelling Russia from Europe may turn out to be more difficult than letting Russia in at one time.
In fairness, I know many examples when different countries, including European ones, have helped and continue to help Russians who fled the war and treat them with understanding. But there is no rule on this either: to help, not to help, whom to help. Perhaps they will appear over time. But for now, this is the good will of certain governments or certain individuals.The Russians will have to accept that life will not be the same, it cannot be the same, because Russia is at war in Europe and with the West in general. I have been living in Europe for over 20 years, but I am from Russia and I remind myself every morning when I read the news: my life will never be the same. While the war is going on, the European leaders will not be particularly versed in the nuances, they will not think about how all these restrictive measures will respond inside Russia, and they will not think about the future of Russia, which they simply prefer to see hermetically fenced off today. Because Russia has got everyone, because people are dying in the war it has unleashed, because there are millions of new refugees in Europe and it pays its price for this foreign war. Well, because strategic thinking is not the strongest side of current politicians on both sides of the falling curtain.
Natalya Gevorkyan – journalist
Opinions expressed in the section “Author’s Rights” may not reflect the views of the editors
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