The Kremlin promised to respond in case of "emotional decisions" on Schengen

Peskov called the possible cessation of the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians "very bad" and assured that in this case Russia would react. At the same time, he pointed out

Stopping the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians cannot be ruled out, but if such measures of an “emotional nature” are approved, Russia will accept “variations” in response, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president, told reporters.

“That would be very bad. <...> Still, I would like to hope for the best, at least for a small part of preserving the sober thinking of our opponents, ”he said (quoted by RIA Novosti).

The countries of Europe and North America “are literally competing in taking various measures that are anti-Russian and unfriendly towards us,” Peskov continued, noting that “they are running out of an arsenal of some measures that, as they see IT, are capable of exerting on us pressure and force us to change our position.” This situation is forcing Western countries to make "irrational and inexplicable" decisions, he argues.

Peskov urged to remember that in several important situations, “some sprouts of common sense” made their way through “the veil of such an emotional unconscious state.” As an example, he cited restrictions on the transit of sanctioned goods to the Kaliningrad region through Lithuanian territory, the European Commission later allowed the passage of goods by rail.

The Schengen area covers most of the EU countries, except for Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania. In addition, several non-EU states have joined the Schengen area: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

One and a half month queues for Schengen appeared in the visa centers in Russia Business

After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, several European countries called to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens. In particular, the Belgian Minister for Refugees Sammy Mahdi proposed not to make a taboo from the general ban on visas for Russians, because "at the moment, Russians are not welcome here." A similar opinion was expressed by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki a month later.

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At the end of July, the main parliamentary parties in Finland called for refusal to issue visas to Russians. The representative of the Coalition Party, a member of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Elina Valtonen, called it "absurd" the possibility for Russian citizens to visit Western countries "as if nothing had happened." The issuance of visas has already been suspended by the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.

At the end of July, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that they were monitoring calls from "odious politicians or public figures - Russophobes" to deprive Russians of the right to receive Schengen visas. “We cannot rule out even seemingly improbable scenarios,” said Ivan Volynkin, Director of the consular department.

Moscow has so far ruled out the introduction of visas for Ukrainians Politics

Before the Coronavirus pandemic, Russia topped the list of countries whose citizens applied for a visa to the Schengen countries. In 2019, Russians filed about 4 million applications for a Schengen visa, or more than 23% of all applications. In 2020, when the pandemic began and many countries closed their borders, 635,000 Schengen visas were issued to Russians.

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