The European Union should begin to debate the possibility of banning the entry into EU countries of Russian soldiers who actively participated in the war in Ukraine. The discussion was brought to the table this Thursday (29) by the Estonian government, during a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels.
According to Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, there is concern about the possible mass arrival of former Russian fighters in Europe in the post-war period in Ukraine. He cited that such soldiers pose a danger to the security of the European continent.
“There cannot be a path from Bucha to Brussels”, stated the minister, when defending a common bloc policy to prevent the entry of these soldiers. Tsahkna made reference to the massacre that took place in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, which was occupied by Russian troops at the beginning of the conflict.
Tsahkna stated that Russia currently has a large contingent of fighters and that a significant part of this group represents a threat to Europe.
“We have about a million fighters in Russia. Many are criminals and dangerous people,” he said. According to the chancellor, there is information that many of these soldiers intend to move to European countries after the end of the war in Ukraine, a scenario for which, in Estonia’s assessment, the bloc is not prepared.
The Estonian chancellor proposed the creation of a kind of common list to systematically bar ex-Russian fighters from entering bloc countries.
“We need to protect European security and do this together”, declared the chancellor, defending that the decision should not be restricted to isolated initiatives by each country.
Estonia this month banned the entry into the country of 261 Russian soldiers who directly participated in the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now, the idea is to expand this policy to the entire European area, especially to countries that are part of the Schengen free movement agreement.
At the end of the meeting in Brussels, the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, stated that the proposal presented by Estonia received support from several Member States, although she did not mention which ones.
“This (the entry of Russian soldiers into EU countries) represents a clear risk to the security of Europe,” he said. According to her, the bloc’s ministers agreed to deepen the discussion and assess the level of support for Estonia’s proposal.
