"I am convinced that in 2027 the number of tourist visas issued to Russians will fall significantly," Maciej Duszczyk told public broadcaster Polish Radio in Luxembourg after a meeting of EU home affairs ministers.
He said the discussion showed a change in the approach of EU member states, including countries that issue the largest numbers of visas to Russian citizens.
"Those countries that issue many visas and had remained silent until now have recognised the problem and admitted that something needs to be done about it," Duszczyk said, without identifying the countries.
He acknowledged that restricting the number of tourist visas for Russians could have economic consequences for some countries because of lost tourism revenue.
"This is also something that needs to be understood in a certain way," Duszczyk said. "These are revenues for those countries. We obviously oppose this, but we also need to put ourselves somewhat in their shoes and understand the problem."
Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell also criticised the number of visas issued to Russians before the meeting, saying it was unjustified that the number of Russian Schengen visas had increased during the five years of the war in Ukraine, Poland's PAP news agency reported.
"It is totally unreasonable that five years into this conflict ... the number of Russian Schengen visas has actually increased," Forssell said, calling it "totally unacceptable that so many Russian tourists are enjoying luxury shopping weekends in the capitals of Europe, while our Ukrainian friends are dying in shelters back home in Ukraine."
According to European Commission data, Schengen countries issued about 623,000 visas to Russian citizens last year, a 10-percent increase from the previous year.
France, Italy and Spain issued the largest numbers of visas to Russian citizens, while Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Romania issued the fewest, according to the data.
A Schengen visa allows non-EU citizens to make short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area, according to the European Commission. The 29-nation Schengen area is a passport-free travel zone comprising 25 EU member states and four non-EU countries: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
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Source: PAP