EU considers issuing Russian tourists Schengen visas valid only in certain territories

Source: EU Council

The agenda for an EU Council working group meeting on visa policy includes a proposal to issue Russian nationals visas with limited territorial validity.

The document says the issue is whether to issue Russian citizens so-called LTV visas (Limited Territorial Validity) for “non-essential travel,” including tourism. The working group is scheduled to meet on October 14.

LTV visas, which allow travel only to certain countries rather than the full Schengen area, are already being issued. It remains unclear whether the working group plans to discuss issuing Russians only these visas.

Representatives of Russia’s tourism industry note that issuing Russians only LTV visas would significantly complicate organizing multi-country bus routes and combined trips to several states in a single journey.

Politico previously reported that the EU plans to introduce new visa restrictions for Russians starting in 2027, with the issue also set for discussion October 12 at a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. Several EU countries cite the threat of hybrid attacks from Russia as the reason for tightening visa policy. The report did not specify what the new restrictions would entail.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on October 11 that fully halting the issuance of tourist visas to Russians is necessary to strengthen Europe’s security. The Finnish prime minister plans to submit the proposal at the EU summit on October 15–16.

Finland, like a number of other EU and Schengen Area countries, stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

However, some other countries, including Greece, Spain, Italy, and France, continue to issue tourist visas to Russian citizens. In 2025, according to data cited by Politico, around 478,000 Schengen tourist visas were issued to Russian citizens.

In November 2025, the European Commission recommended not issuing multiple-entry Schengen visas to Russians. The number of such visas has dropped sharply, but some are still being issued.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

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EU considers issuing Russian tourists Schengen visas valid only in certain territories

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EU considers issuing Russian tourists Schengen visas valid only in certain territories

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