Rare guests: Germany does not plan to impose a complete ban on issuing visas to Russians

Germany has no plans to impose a complete ban on the issuance of visas to Russian citizens, a European diplomatic source told Izvestia. This position of Germany will not allow to advance the initiative on a complete ban on the issuance of visas at the EU level, experts say. The EU is currently preparing a review of the visa policy for Russian citizens, which is included in the draft conclusions of the European Council, which will meet in Brussels in mid-October.

Germany will not refuse to issue visas to Russians

Europe continues to discuss the possible tightening of entry rules for Russian citizens. The revision of this policy is included in the draft conclusions of the European Council, which will meet on October 15-16 in Brussels. So far, this is only a draft document, so no new decisions have been taken yet to change the procedure for issuing Schengen visas to Russian tourists.

Meanwhile, Germany emphasizes that they are not going to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens.

Photo: TASS/Andrey Perechitsky

"Germany has no plans to impose a complete ban on issuing visas to Russians," a European diplomatic source told Izvestia.

The publication sent a request to the German Foreign Ministry.

Nevertheless, earlier in Germany there were calls for harsh measures. For example, in June, the CDU/CSU bloc faction in the European Parliament proposed a complete ban on the issuance of Schengen tourist visas to Russian citizens. And in September, German Foreign Minister Johann Vadefuhl announced stricter border controls for Russians. He also explicitly stressed that Berlin stands for a single restrictive visa policy towards Russia.

Germany tightened its visa policy in November 2025, when the EU effectively abolished the possibility of issuing multiple-entry Schengen visas to Russians. Berlin has explicitly stated that it intends to adhere to the recommendations of the European Union. According to the German Foreign Ministry, since the beginning of 2026, the agency has approved only 23.7 thousand Schengen visas for Russian citizens. In 2025, Berlin issued about 31 thousand such documents. The ministry separately emphasizes that this amount does not exceed 5% of the total number of visas that Russians receive in all countries of the Schengen area.

Germany also continues to issue student visas to Russians. Since the beginning of this year, the German Embassy in Moscow has issued about 650 such documents. However, alarm bells are already ringing here: in early October, local media reported on the refusal of a visa to a Russian student who received a place at the Graduate School of the Arts in Bremen. The authorities justified this as a "threat to the security of Germany." Journalists noted that this is probably the first time a visa has been refused to study at an art university.

Photo: Getty Images/GA161076

Germany is unlikely to require a complete ban on Schengen visas for Russians, Vladislav Belov, head of the Center for German Studies at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia. According to him, strict restrictions are already in effect in practice: for example, Berlin issues visas with the right to stay only on the territory of Germany. The expert also added that selective control has increased at the borders at the entrance, which now looks more like interrogations.

By the way, back in 2025, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, strongly advised citizens not to travel to Germany unless absolutely necessary. She recalled the frequent cases at airports where German customs officers irrevocably seized clothes, personal belongings, luxury goods and cash from arriving Russians. Formally, these actions were explained by compliance with EU sanctions.

Vladislav Belov believes that the deterioration of travel conditions is aimed at increasing Russians' dissatisfaction with their own government. At the same time, the German side is trying to formally maintain a positive image.

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Why is a complete ban on issuing visas being blocked?

The European Commission remains the main proponent of a consistent tightening of the visa regime for Russians. In early September, the head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, supported the idea of introducing stricter restrictions for our tourists, as well as banning former members of the European Union from entering at the EU level. Brussels wants to include tougher measures in the new package of EU sanctions against Russia.

Photo: TASS/Sergey Bobylev

The reason for the possible tightening was the August incident with a drone at Leipzig airport. The German authorities officially blamed Russia for the incident. At the same time, Kaya Kallas emphasized that if Moscow's involvement is confirmed, the evidence gathered should convince even those EU countries that previously opposed the tightening of the visa regime. However, no evidence has emerged.

The French Embassy in Russia later announced that it would continue its visa policy towards Russians, noting that Paris had not stopped issuing visas to Russian tourists.

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It is worth noting that France, Spain and Italy, which actively earn money from tourism, most often from EU countries approved Schengen visas for Russians in 2025. At the same time, there are many opponents of the actions of these countries in the European Union. So, in June, Politico reported that 11 states — the Baltic States, Poland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland and Norway — sent a joint letter to Kaya Kallas and European Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner. In their appeal, they officially demanded a radical tightening of the rules for issuing visas to Russian citizens.

The general trend towards tightening the sanctions regime in the EU is shared, but they are not ready to move to a full-fledged visa ban yet, Egor Sergeev, a senior researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies, told Izvestia. A complete legal ban requires the consensus of all EU countries, which currently does not exist.

Photo: TASS/Kirill Kukhmar

Two types of concerns converge here, the expert notes. The first is related to economic losses: in a number of countries, revenues from Russian tourists are still significant, especially for local budgets. The second type is purely moral. EU members are wondering how fair it is to shift responsibility for the conflict in Ukraine onto all Russian citizens without exception. This is a very sensitive issue that Brussels prefers not to openly raise.