Article Author:
Associated Press
Harriet Morris
TALLINN, ESTONIA (AP) — Estonia's foreign minister on Thursday defended the country's decision to ban Russian tourists, calling them "moral." ``responsibility,'' he said. Confronting the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin and its “genocidal war” in Ukraine.
The small Baltic state that shares a 300-kilometre (190-mile) border with Russia stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians months ago, and as of Thursday had previously Stopped accepting what was issued.
"Our idea is to signal all European partners, all Western community partners, to close their borders to Russian citizens, except in humanitarian cases." Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsal told his Associated Press. Interview in Tallinn. "Russian citizens are not welcome in Europe. Their country is waging a genocidal war against innocent people."
Despite the travel ban, Russians were able to spend their holidays in Western Europe this summer by traveling overland to Estonia and other neighboring countries on tourist visas. Valid throughout Europe's borderless travel zones.
Reinsalu said the "hundreds of thousands" of Russian citizens transiting through Estonian soil pose a "clear security threat" and that the visa ban keeps ordinary Russians out of Europe and the West. dismissed concerns that antagonizing the
He said the legal responsibility for the war in Ukraine rested with Putin and his inner circle, but also the moral responsibility of Russian citizens as citizens of an aggressor state. rice field.
"They must wake up and protest the regime's atrocities. Their tax dollars are literally used to buy rockets and bombs to kill Ukrainian children. I am," he said.
Exceptions to the entry ban include diplomats and Russians visiting close relatives in Estonia. It does not affect Russians with visas issued by other EU member states or Russians who are allowed to enter Estonia for humanitarian reasons, but the Estonian authorities do not allow tourist visas issued by other EU member states. said it was also working on a proposal to ban it.
Estonia, Finland, and other EU countries bordering Russia are pushing for an EU-wide ban on Russian tourists, although some, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have Department leaders dismiss the idea as unproductive.
"This is not the Russian people's war. This is Putin's war, and we need to be very clear on that topic," Scholz said. A Russian Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday that Moscow has not ruled out an EU-wide ban and will respond in any case.
"Russia has no choice but to respond to these measures. We will find out [about retaliation] soon," said the deputy head of the ministry's communications department. One Ivan Nechaev told reporters.
Reinsalu says the "peaceful life" of Russians is hindered by denying them the chance to visit tourist attractions such as the Louvre in Paris, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin or the canals of Venice. He ridiculed his concerns that
"I don't think there is a peaceful life in Ukraine. Our view is to end the genocidal war. This is a strategic objective," he said.
Estonia and its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania have endured 50 years of Soviet occupation and have insisted in the EU on tough sanctions against Russia and strong military aid to Ukraine.
Reinsalu is also home to remaining Soviet-era memorials, including a tank removed this week from a memorial to Red Army soldiers killed during World War II in the city of Narva, east of the Russian border. defended the government's decision to dismantle the The government said such monuments could be used by the Kremlin to create division in Estonia, which has a large ethnic Russian minority.
"One of the things we've learned from the past is that he has to act decisively and not let tension build up," he said, Reinsalu.
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His AP writer from Stockholm, Karl Ritter, contributed to this report.
