European Union foreign ministers are unlikely to unanimously back a visa ban for all Russians when they meet later this week, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. “I don’t think severing the relationship with the Russian civilian population will help and I don’t think this idea will have the required unanimity,” Borrell, who chairs meetings of EU foreign ministers, told Austria’s ORF TV on Sunday. . “I think we need to review the way some Russians get visas, certainly not the oligarchs. We have to be more selective. But I am not in favor of stopping the delivery of visas to all Russians.” Foreign ministers would have to reach a unanimous agreement to implement a ban, which would be the bloc’s last action to publicize Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Instead, they are expected to back a suspension of the visa facilitation deal with Moscow when they meet on Tuesday in Prague. The move would make travel significantly more difficult and expensive for the Russians. A senior EU official involved in the talks told the Financial Times that it would be “inappropriate for Russian tourists to walk around our cities, our marinas”. “We need to send a message to the Russian population that this war is not OK, it is not acceptable,” the official said, according to the newspaper.
