Visas for the Russians: What actually agreed

Dmytro Kuleba Foreign Minister of Ukraine when three weeks ago President Zelensky made a proposal to close to the Russians entry to the EU, few people in the European Union believed that it would lead to results, but on August 31 in Prague after a grueling day of negotiations, the wheelchair of the European machine. EU foreign affairs agreed. I am grateful to the Czech prescription in the EU for the opportunity to participate in this discussion, and in fact - a rather fierce diplomatic combat.

Video of the day, therefore, at the beginning of the forces were about the following: at one pole - a soft proposal to terminate the agreement with the Russian Federation on the simplified order of visa registration; On the other, the rigid proposal of Ukraine and groups of EU countries to limit the entry into the European Union as much as possible by retaining the open doors only for humanitarian (treatment, reunification with family, etc.

) and political (human rights activists, Putin's opponents, etc. ). I saw in the Ukrainian media during the day quotes of ministers who wanted a soft decision. I understand that they sounded pessimistic. But we kept a communication pause, because in fact the scenes lasted. According to the results of the diplomatic marathon, the decisions were much closer to the Ukrainian position. Yesterday's hysterical reaction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is the best evidence.

Therefore, the agreement instead of one element (termination of the agreement) consists of five elements: 1. Indeed, it is really agreed to terminate the Visa Simplification Agreement - this will already significantly reduce the number of new visas issued by the EU. 2. The idea was accepted that Schengen would be issued primarily to representatives of vulnerable groups, in particular those Russians who oppose Russia's war against Ukraine. 3.

Russian passports issued in the recently occupied territories of Ukraine will not be recognized. 4. The EU will make a common solution to answer the question: OK, we narrow the opportunity to get a new visa as much as possible, but what to do with millions of visas already issued to the Russians? This is a very important new element. 5. Border with the EU country has been entitled to apply their own restrictions.

This is very important and opens the way to the closing of the EU terrestrial borders for the Russians right now, without waiting for great EU joint decisions. As you can see, it is much tougher than the fans of a soft approach to visa visa. Therefore, it is an important fracture and the result of a difficult discussion between real partners, which found a balance.