Ukrainian Foreign Minister applauds Estonia’s ban on Russian tourists

Ukrainian Foreign Minister applauds Estonia's ban on Russian tourists

Image of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Credit: Twitter@DmytroKuleba

Estonia’s decision to ban Russian tourists has been applauded by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

After Estonia today, Thursday, August 11, officially banned Russian tourists from entering the country, other European nations could be about to follow suit. Finland and Latvia have both hinted at carrying out this action in recent days.

Urmas Reinsalu, Estonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaking today at the government’s weekly press conference, stated: “This sanction means that the visas will remain valid, but the visa holders will be sanctioned when entering Estonia, they will not be allowed to enter Estonia.”

He added: “We agreed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior will prepare their possible proposals for next week regarding the question of how it would be possible to close the Estonian border to those citizens of the Russian Federation who have a Schengen visa that has not been issued in Estonia”.

Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas tweeted last Tuesday, August 9: “Stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right”.

“Air travel from Russia is shut down. It means while Schengen countries issue visas, neighbours to Russia carry the burden (Finland, Estonia, Latvia – sole access points). Time to end tourism from Russia now”, she continued.
 

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs wasted no time in tweeting his thoughts on the matter @DmytroKuleba:
 

Kuleba also thanked the government of Latvia for today recognising Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Kyiv Independent quoted German Chancellor Olaf Schultz as saying: “This is Putin‘s war, and therefore I have a hard time with this idea”. 

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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