Latvia's prime minister urges EU to stop tourist visas for Russians; Moscow responds

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs has called on all European Union member states to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens, in an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday 18 October.

“Don’t let the Russians into Europe, for God’s sake!” Kulbergs told the newspaper. He said Latvia faced hybrid threats every day and expected more migrants to attempt to cross its borders this year than in any of the past five years. “Every country must take a tough stance on this issue,” he said.

Citing European Commission figures, the Financial Times reported that France, Italy and Spain together issued more than 70 per cent of the more than 600,000 Schengen visas granted to Russians in 2025, BB.LV said. Those three countries have opposed a ban on tourist visas for Russians.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded on Telegram on Sunday afternoon, Moscow time. “Turn on a TV for Kulbergs,” she wrote, saying it showed that those “wrecking” the EU “not in the future but in the present” were “EU citizens”, RIA Novosti reported.

Visa applications are decided by individual member states under common Schengen rules, and an EU-wide ban would require a decision at EU level, IR-PRESS reported. The EU suspended its visa facilitation agreement with Russia in September 2022 and limited multiple-entry visas for Russian citizens in November 2025. The European Commission said in June 2026 that it was not preparing a full ban.