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Visa sanctions against Russia have become a hot news topic and subject of discussion within the EU. A group... ... Union through some of the countries mentioned above and a reduction in the number of visas issued from the rest. Let's try to figure out what the EU and Russia will gain... ... Political Aspects of EU’s Possible Visa Sanctions Against Russian Nationals
For the European Union, the benefits of visa restrictions are mainly symbolic. Visa sanctions...
... make decisions on individual basis (Article 1). However, the states that have suspended issuance of visas do not deny visas, they do not accept visa applications. In other words, these states do not conduct activities with a view to issuing Schengen visas to Russians, and the European Union cannot force them to conduct such activities since this issue comes within the purview of national governments.
By stopping issuing visas to all Russian nationals, individual EU member states violate the principles of non-discrimination ...
... values-oriented foreign policies even in trade and economic matters, which frequently materializes as harsh and biased criticism of Russian actions. As a result, cooperation with the European Parliament becomes burdensome, tempting one to disregard it. At the same time, the European Union’s institutional structure makes it virtually impossible to ignore it, since the European Parliament is a ... ... approval of international agreements. For example, a final decision on the procedure for simplifying or revoking the need for visas is impossible if not passed by parliamentarians. The PCA was signed in 1994 but was approved by the European Parliament ...
... primarily for political reasons. A visa-free regime would call for closer cooperation, whereas Brussels is not yet prepared for such levels of openness and interaction due to its many objections to Russian foreign and domestic policy.
In addiiton, the European Union is unwilling to soften the visa regime for Russia’s neighbors, due to the belief that dropping visas for Russia while preserving them for countries within its geopolitical sphere of interest would
send the latter the wrong signal
.
Nevertheless, certain shifts have been taking place. Recently, Russia and the EU
have agreed on a roadmap on visa ...
... establish a Eurasian Union.
Despite that those subjects, as well as other issues traditional for such reunions – cooperation in power industry matters and drafting of a new EU-Russia Framework Agreement, were left to live in the shadow of the recent Russian parliamentary elections, the visa problem was significantly high on the agenda.
Visas as a Test to Brussels
The European Union has taken a very cautious stance as regards the visa issue. The EU is apprehensive about potential Russian migrants as well as unprotected Russian borders in the South.
So many statements are made on the issue that one might get an impression ...
