Radosław Sikorski Urged European Countries to Close Russian Consulates
And to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats on their territory.
Radosław Sikorski. Photo: AP Photo / Geert Vanden Wijngaert
European countries should close Russian consulates, restrict the movement of Russian diplomats on their territory, and reduce the number of Russian diplomatic personnel. This was stated in an interview with the Financial Times (FT) by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.
According to him, Warsaw has already taken similar steps. "I no longer have any consulates, but others still do," the minister said.
Sikorski also proposed obliging all Russians entering the European Union to have biometric foreign passports. This would prevent alleged Russian agents from crossing borders under false names, he explained.
In addition, the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry supported calls to reduce the issuance of tourist visas to Russians. According to FT data, last year EU countries issued almost 500,000 such visas to Russian citizens.
Meanwhile, on October 12, the foreign ministers of EU countries will discuss in Luxembourg restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats within the bloc, as well as a possible tightening of rules for issuing tourist visas to Russians.