Russians fleeing their home country to avoid being drafted will be subjected to a rigorous security assessment before being granted a European Union visa, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said on Friday.
EU member countries should not accept short-term Schengen visa applications from Russians who have already left the country, and any new visa applications should be assessed from a security perspective, Johansson said, announcing an EU-wide policy toward those fleeing conscription after President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization last week.
"Member states need to do a thorough security assessment" before issuing a short-term Schengen visa to Russian citizens, Johansson said, adding that visas shouldn't be issued to those who intend to stay longer than 90 days. "It's important not to mix up the right to apply for a tourist visa [...] with the right to apply for asylum, which is a fundamental right," Johansson said, adding that a tourist visa to the EU is a "privilege."
Individuals seeking asylum within the EU's borders can still do so, Johansson said.
Questioned about how Russian citizens will be able to apply for asylum considering they can hardly reach the bloc, between travel bans and EU sanctions, Johansson said Russians will be able to apply as any citizen from any other country would.
Since Putin announced a partial mobilization, which will call up to 300,000 reservists to join the military efforts in Ukraine, thousands of men of conscription age have been trying to leave the country before being drafted.
Online searches for for flights out of the country skyrocketed within minutes after Putin's speech, according to reports, and queues of fleeing citizens formed at the land border with Georgia in the days following the Russian leader's announcement.
Faced with a likely sudden influx of thousands of Russian men trying to avoid conscription, European countries found themselves divided on the issue of accepting people as refugees.
EU nations sharing borders and complicated, bloody histories with Russia and the Soviet Union, in particular, have strongly opposed letting Russians in.
The Baltic states, which had closed their borders to most Russian citizens even before the announcement of the partial mobilization following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, have now extended this ban to those specifically traveling to avoid mobilization, who will not be considered refugees or asylum seekers.
Last week, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics wrote on Twitter that the country won't accept Russians fleeing the country "due to security reasons."
"Latvia will not issue humanitarian or other types of visas to those Russian citizens who avoid mobilisation," Rinkevics wrote. In a later tweet, he added that Russians shouldn't be considered conscientious objectors.
"Many of Russians who now flee Russia because of mobilisation were fine with killing Ukrainians, they did not protest then. It is not right to consider them as conscientious objectors. There are considerable security risks admitting them and plenty of countries outside EU to go," he wrote.
Many of Russians who now flee Russia because of mobilisation were fine with killing Ukrainians, they did not protest then, it is not right to consider them as conscious objectors. There are considerable security risks admitting them and plenty of countries outside EU to go
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) September 22, 2022
Lithuania's interior ministry said each case would be weighed individually, but clarified that the country "does not have the purpose and capacity to issue visas on humanitarian grounds to all Russian citizens who apply for them."
Finland has also essentially shut its borders to all Russians.
Some within the EU have been showing more sympathy to the cause of Russians fleeing mobilization, with European Council President Charles Michel stating he was open to giving asylum to Russians escaping the military draft.
But Friday's announcement is proof that the more cautious eastern flank of the EU likely won the debate surrounding Russians fleeing mobilization.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
