Voices to make it difficult or impossible for Russians to enter EU countries are getting louder and louder. However, Navalny's confidante Milow warns of a visa war against all Russians. He attacks the Ukrainian President Zelenskyj particularly sharply.
The prominent opponent of the Kremlin, Vladimir Milov, has warned of a "visa war against Russians" in view of the debate in the European Union about entry bans for his compatriots. A confidant of jailed Moscow opposition politician Alexei Navalny said that some European politicians "spit" on Russians, consider them "garbage" and "bastards". That harms the democratic values preached in the West and plays into the hands of Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin, Milow said in a video distributed on the Navalny Telegram channel.
Milow, who himself lives in exile abroad, also expressly criticized the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, who had called for Russians to be banned from entering Western countries. Even if the country is fighting against Putin's war of aggression, no one has the right to lump all Russians together. Milow emphasized that Navalny's team has been warning the West about "Putin's mafia regime" for years. Even at the beginning of the war, Zelenskyy acknowledged that many Russians opposed the invasion and acknowledged that protests about the threat of penalties are not easy in Russia. Now he wants to punish everyone.
"Russian youth does not support this war," Milow said. He advocated that young Russians should have the opportunity to study in the West in order to be of use to their country in a post-Putin era. Milow expressly praised Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who does not support a visa ban demanded by the Baltic states. Scholz had said that the attack on Ukraine was "Putin's war," not that of the Russian people.
"When European politicians say that all Russians are equal, then talks about democratic values and the world order lose their point," he said. "Strategically, they are sending the signal to a large crowd of pro-Western Russians that there are no democratic values, but an ethnic conflict." That suits Putin. The Kremlin boss has long accused the West of conspiring against everything Russian.
Most recently, Denmark pushed for EU-wide restrictions on tourist visas for Russian citizens. "If a joint solution does not work out, we will explore the possibilities from the Danish side to introduce restrictions in order to reduce the number of Russian tourist visas," Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod told the Ritzau news agency. "I find it deeply shameful that Russian tourists can sunbathe and live the lavish life in southern Europe while Ukrainian cities are being bombed beyond recognition." According to Ritzau, 141 tourist visas had been issued to Russian citizens by the end of May this year.
This means that relatively few Russian holidaymakers come to Denmark compared to other Nordic countries such as Finland, which shares a 1300-kilometer border with Russia. The Czech Republic, which currently holds the presidency of the EU states, wants to raise the issue of a visa ban at a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the end of August. Milow said he expected the proposal to be rejected.
