Elena Kostyuchenko explains why E.U. multiple-entry visas were so crucial for Russian dissidents and journalists — Meduza
meduza.io
More than 500,000 Russians were granted visas to the European Union’s Schengen zone in 2024 — nearly half of which allow for multiple entry over many years. The visitor numbers are down by 90 percent compared with pre-pandemic 2019, but half a million people still isn’t nothing. And it’s about to seem astronomical, following a recent decision by the European Union to introduce a ban on multi-entry visas to the Schengen zone for Russian citizens.
  • Sepia@mander.xyzEnglish
    3·
    19 hours ago

    I fully get the point of Ms. Kostyuchenko. It’s a big issue not easy to solve. I don’t see this as a “morally righteous punishment for the citizens of a state terrorizing the continent and making war in Ukraine,” though. No measure should ever be made to punish people, let alone as some form of ‘guilt by association’ what the linked report’s framing appears to suggest.

    The EU’s move can also be seen as a necessary security measure. As a recent example: There is the case of Igor Rogov, a former employee of the Open Russia pro-democracy movement, which is banned in Russia as “undesirable.” Mr. Rogov has been living with his wife in Poland.

    In the meantime, Mr. Rogov is in Polish detention and charged for spying for the Russian intelligence Federal Security Service (FSB).

    The Moscow Times reports by citing Polish sources on Mr. Rogov’s testimony in court:

    “I was supposed to do what I liked — climb the ranks of Russian oppositionists, meet new people and eventually report everything to the [Russian] Federal Security Service."

    The Moscow Times also reports:

    When the couple moved to Poland after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Igor had told his wife [Irina] that he had been recruited by the FSB …

    After Irina reportedly discovered her husband’s affair, she began revealing in private conversations with other Russian emigres that Igor had been cooperating for years with an FSB officer named Yevgeny.

    Rogov allgedly also received a courier shipment containing components for a bomb, including liquid explosives, fuses and a power source.