Some countries have called for collective action to stop ordinary Russians from traveling to the EU on tourist visas, in the latest challenge to the bloc as it tries to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine while maintaining unity among its 27 members. Countries including the Czech Republic and Poland stopped issuing visas to Russian tourists shortly after President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. They have since called on Brussels to introduce a total ban, echoing a call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But others continued to grant the travel documents, allowing Russians with visas to travel anywhere in the Schengen free movement zone. As a first step, ministers plan to provide political support for suspending the EU-Russia visa facilitation deal at a two-day meeting in Prague starting on Tuesday, three officials involved in the talks told the Financial Times. “It is inappropriate for Russian tourists to stroll in our cities, in our marinas,” said a senior EU official involved in the talks. “We need to send a message to the Russian population that this war is not OK, it is not acceptable.” Parts of the 2007 agreement on free movement of government officials and businessmen were suspended in late February. A broader suspension would remove preferential treatment for Russians when applying for all EU visas, requiring more documents, making them more expensive and significantly increasing waiting times. “We are in an extraordinary situation and it requires extraordinary steps. We want to go beyond the suspension of visa facilitation,” the senior EU official said, adding that deeper changes could be introduced by the end of the year. However, there is no consensus on additional measures Brussels could take that would either reduce the number of EU visas issued to Russians or stop them being issued altogether, or on proposals such as extending any ban to its citizens Belarus, which supported Putin. invasion. Some countries, including Germany, have warned against a total ban. Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat who will chair the Prague talks, has said he opposes banning all Russian visas, saying the bloc needs to “be more selective”. As a result, Finland, Poland and the Baltic states, which border Russia, have suggested they are ready to stop allowing Russians on tourist visas to enter their territories, citing national security exceptions to the Schengen agreement. With air travel between the EU and Russia suspended, many Russian tourists are using those countries as a transit route to other EU destinations. Kaja Kallas, the prime minister of Estonia, said last week that 30 percent of Russians traveling to the EU they do it through the Baltic state.

“I look forward to finding a common European solution on how to significantly limit the flows of Russian tourists to Europe,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, describing a deal among the 27 as “the most viable and legally correct.” However, he added: “If no common solution is found, we do not rule out a regional agreement between the countries most affected by the huge flows of Russian tourists abusing European hospitality.” Countries backing a total ban on Russians visiting the EU for tourism have said they do not want the borders closed completely and that exemptions for humanitarian reasons, asylum applications and to allow dissidents of the Putin regime to escape should be maintained. EU defense ministers, who will meet in Prague on Monday, will also discuss options for a possible Brussels-led training mission for Ukrainian soldiers. The potential training centres, which follow a similar initiative from the UK this summer, would be based in EU countries near Ukraine, Borrell said last week.