After Germany and France, Austria also opposes the general ban on the entry of Russian citizens into the European Union, ahead of the informal council of EU foreign ministers that is being held today and tomorrow in Prague.
“We shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water,” said Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Sulenberg in an interview with the newspaper Die Welt, pointing out that “a general visa ban would completely cut off even the last contacts with Russian society citizens, while it would be absurd to block the way to the West at this moment for critical voices of Russia”.
According to the Austrian foreign minister, the Kremlin’s information embargo is keeping the Russian population in the dark about the actions of President Vladimir Putin. “A visa suspension would also be counterproductive in the fight against the Russian propaganda machine, and if we block the Russian population’s door to Europe, we will only fuel the ‘siege mentality’ fostered by the Kremlin,” Mr. Sulenberg stressed. .
Earlier today, the foreign ministries of Germany and France filed a joint position against the Baltic states’ proposal for a blanket ban on Russian citizens entering the EU, stressing the need to “think of smart ways to use the important lever of visa-passporting”.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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