Lithuania's Foreign Minister Landsbergis: All EU countries approve regional decisions to limit the flow of tourists from Russia

Foreign ministers paid great attention to the discussion on the challenges posed by Russian tourist flows facing the EU.

“During the debate, we succeeded in persuading all EU countries that millions of Russian citizens holding Schengen visas are a problem not only for the countries that border Russia, but also for the EU’s regional security. Together with Estonia, Latvia and Poland, we will seek solutions in the coming weeks that will significantly limit the flow of Russian tourists," Landsbergis summed up the outcomes of the two-day meeting.

As regards the situation in the Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine, Lithuania's Foreign Minister stressed that the Kremlin was trying to establish control of these territories by applying the already usual Russian occupation schemes: puppet administrations are created, citizenship laws and passports are issued, and forced deportations are carried out.

“The erritories temporarily controlled by Russia should not become another zone of impunity. We must be ready to react swiftly and demand that international organisations get access to these areas in order to ensure compliance with international law and to avoid a nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” Landsbergis said.

After the meeting of EU foreign ministers, Landsbergis participated in the 26th annual Forum 2000 Conference, titled “Democracy’s Clear and Present Danger: How Do We Respond? The conference featured a special “Forum for Ukraine” and discussed the global resurgence of authoritarianism, searched for ways how democratic alliances could be constructed, as well as looked for new ideas on how to make democracy more resilient in the current challenging environment. Landsbergis, together with the Foreign Ministers of Spain, Romania, Finland and the United Kingdom, took part in a debate 'Secure wider Europe: a vision for success'.

For the first time, the annual Forum 2000 Conference was held in Prague in 1996 at the initiative of the Czech President Václav Havel.

Photo: EU2022_CZ