Earlier this month, the Prime Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland signed an agreement to restrict "Russian citizens from entering the Schengen area for tourism, cultural, sporting or business purposes," Poland's Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) think tank has reported.
Under the new regulations Russian citizens' Schengen visas are not to be honoured, "regardless of which country issued them," the OSW has said.
The four PMs wrote in their statement at the beginning of September that "countries bordering Russia are increasingly concerned about the substantial and growing influx of Russian citizens to the European Union and the Schengen area through our borders."
"We believe that this is becoming a serious threat to our public security and to the overall shared Schengen area,” they added.
The statement also said that among the Russian citizens entering European Union's territory "there are persons coming with the aim of undermining the security of our countries, insofar as three fourths of Russian citizens support Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine."
Exceptions will remain in force for "dissidents, humanitarian cases, family members, holders of residence permits, for the facilitation of freight and transportation services, diplomatic missions, Kaliningrad facilitated transit of persons, etc.,” the four heads of governments added.
"It is unacceptable that, while people in Ukraine are being tortured and murdered, citizens from the aggressor state (Russia) can travel freely within the EU," the Reuters news agency quoted Polish government as saying.
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