11 EU States Target 478,000 Russian Visas

Russian tourists are still reaching the French Riviera and the Spanish coast while Ukraine is being hit by missiles and drones. Eleven European countries want Brussels to close that gap. On 3 June, they sent the European Commission a joint letter calling for binding restrictions on Schengen visas for Russian citizens, exposing a sanctions problem the EU has so far left to national improvisation.

The figures behind the anger

Schengen-area countries issued 477,878 tourist visas to Russian citizens in 2025, almost 40% more than in 2023, the first full year of the war (EUobserver, GP). About three-quarters were issued by just three countries: France, with around 156,500; Italy, with 161,000; and Spain, with 123,000 (Euronews, Quotidiano.net).

The letter was signed by Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Norway. They called it "deeply disturbing" that Russian tourists can take European holidays while "missiles and drones continue to hit civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine" (Euractiv).

Swedish migration minister Johan Forssell put the political point more sharply. Russians "who support Russia's full-scale invasion should not be able to come to Europe and rest on beaches or sit drinking red wine at cozy outdoor cafés" (GP).

A system built to fragment

The weakness is in the Schengen system itself. Each country decides at its own consulates who gets a visa. Once that visa is issued, however, the holder can move legally across 29 countries, Malta included.

That means a decision taken at a French or Italian consulate does not stay French or Italian. It becomes a practical border and security question for every Schengen state, including small countries where a single rule change can be felt immediately at Luqa, at ports, and in the tourism sector.

Estonia moved on its own in August 2022, using national border law to ban Russian entry (Riigi Teataja). It refuses Russians at its border even when another country issued the visa. Poland has taken a similar route. These are national workarounds, not a common EU rule.

The only collective tool now available is Article 25a of the Visa Code. It allows the Council, where national governments vote on EU laws, to suspend visa benefits for a country. But the article was written for a different problem: when a country refuses to take back its own citizens who are illegally in the EU.

It was not designed for war or security policy. The one time it was used, against Ethiopia in 2024, the issue was readmission cooperation, not sanctions (Brussels Times). Using it also requires unanimity, which means France, Italy, or Spain could block the move alone.

The quiet middle and the Mediterranean resistance

Germany also stayed off the letter, though it issued fewer than 24,000 Russian visas in 2025, down 90% from before the war. Berlin's argument, set out in the IPG Journal, is that a blanket ban would be "a gift to the Kremlin" because it would feed the claim that "the West is directed not against the war, but against the Russian people" (IPG Journal).

Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the late Russian opposition leader, has made the same warning (Le Monde). The concern is that a sweeping ban would punish students, dissidents, and people trying to leave Russia, while giving Moscow a simpler story to tell at home.

France, Italy, and Spain have given no formal reply to the letter. Le Monde reported that the subject "embarrasses" Paris. Diplomatic sources argue that existing sanctions already block those on sanctions lists, and that students and opposition figures should not be caught in a broader restriction (Le Monde).

Italy's position is made more awkward by a separate scandal. A former ambassador has been arrested on allegations that he sold Schengen visas to Russians for up to €16,000 each (Difesa Online). For countries arguing that visa discretion can be trusted, that is not a helpful case.

A promise pushed into next year

The Commission's answer came on 5 June from spokesperson Markus Lammert. Brussels is offering "targeted restrictive visa measures" as part of a Visa Code revision expected in 2027, but it has not said how wide those measures would be or how quickly they could pass (Euronews).

Even if the Commission produces the proposal on time, the text would still have to pass through negotiations with the European Parliament, where MEPs can amend or reject it. France and Italy would also have room to water it down during the process.

The 11-country group wants binding rules before next summer. The Commission is offering a revision for next year. Between those two dates sits another holiday season and, on current figures, another large wave of Russian tourist visas.

For the eastern flank, that is a moral and security failure. For parts of the Mediterranean, it is also revenue. That is the unresolved contradiction: the EU sanctions Russia through one legal channel while its visa system keeps issuing access through another. Until the Visa Code changes, Brussels has no clean mechanism to settle it.