Regardless of the issuing country, the ban will apply to all Russians who hold a tourist visa, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechia in Prague.
With this, not only the Russians who have been granted a Schengen visa by the Czech authorities, but also the ban applies to those Russian visitors who have been granted a visa by other Schengen-associated countries.
Minister Lipovsky cited the ruthless bombing of civilians in Ukraine as the reason for the ban, as the Czech Republic can't ignore this, explained Radio Free Europe.
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Prior to Czech Republic, several other countries already took such a decision earlier in September and had imposed a ban on entry for all tourists from Russia.
The four EU states that border Russia – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland – had already banned Russian tourists from entering their territory on 19 September.
These four countries' foreign ministers had cited that the decision to ban Russians was taken on the common ground of protecting internal security, public policy, and the overall safety of the Schengen Area. Also, these ministers had urged other EU nations to impose similar ban on Russian tourists.
Latvia's Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš recently called on all EU countries leaders to stop issuing tourist visas for citizens of Russia. He said that he does not support the idea that permitting entry to the EU for Russians fleeing mobilisation would weaken Kremlin’s armed forces.
Meanwhile, European Union Council had previously planning to not accept Russian travel documents issued in Ukraine in Georgia. The EUC had said that the EU ambassadors have agreed on a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament on a decision on the non-acceptance of Russian travel documents issued in the two above-mentioned countries, reported schengenVisaInfo.com.
The decision was taken amid Russian invasion on Ukraine and Russia’s one-sided decision to recognise the independence of the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008.
