Russian soldiers entering the EU: eight countries warn Costa and von der Leyen that they must not be allowed to enter

Brussels – Eastern Europe and the Scandinavian countries are increasingly concerned that Russian soldiers who have fought – or are still fighting – in Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine might set foot on European soil. This fear has been put in writing by the eight leaders of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Romania, Finland, and Sweden, in a letter sent today (13 March) to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa. Some governments have received information suggesting that, aat the latest by the end of the war, many Russian soldiers intend to enter the EU. In the text, the leaders describe the potential entry of Russian combatants or former combatants into the Schengen area as “one of the most serious risks to the EU’s internal security arising from the war in Ukraine,” and stress the need to address the issue and organise a coordinated European response “as early as in the conclusions of the forthcoming European Council on 19 and 20 March.” 

As the signatories explain, “anyone who has taken part in the war as part of the aggressor state’s armed forces poses a threat” that could manifest itself in the form of “violent crimes, organised criminal networks, extremist movements, or hostile activities within the broader context of Russia’s hybrid operations against the EU.” Further worrying the EU’s eastern flank is the fact that, to compensate for losses at the front, Moscow has progressively increased the recruitment of inmates serving time for violent crimes. According to the letter sent to the EU leadership in Brussels, there are “more than 180,000 previously convicted criminals who have been recruited from Russian prisons to be sent to the front.” And, as rotations progress, “it is likely that the number of individuals with recent experience of violent combat seeking to travel abroad will increase significantly.” 

Today’s document follows months in which concerns among the major Eastern European countries on this issue have gradually grown. As reported by the German newspaper Die Welt, at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in late January, Estonia’s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, stated that he was in possession of “information suggesting that many Russian soldiers would like to come to Europe following a possible end to the war.” It is no coincidence that the first capital to introduce a regulation to ban the entry of 260 Russian soldiers at the beginning of the year was Tallinn, followed by Lithuania, which just yesterday tabled a similar bill.

 For the countries on the eastern flank, however, national measures are not enough: “given the freedom of movement guaranteed by Schengen, the consequences of any entry can be serious for the security of each individual Member State and of the Union as a whole.” For this reason, the authors of the letter are calling for a Community-wide response to these risks, starting as early as the next European Council. In addition to existing instruments – such as “the refusal of visas and residence permits and the imposition of long-term entry bans across the Schengen area” – the signatories refer to the new strategy on visa policy launched by the Commission in January, which opened the door to “further restrictive measures in cases of serious deterioration in relations with a specific third country, with particular reference to the category of ‘former and current combatants of an aggressor state’.”

It seems – or perhaps it is – a passage written specifically with Russia in mind, and at the very same meeting in late January reported by Die Welt, there were reportedly discussions about using it to establish a European regulation similar to the one already approved by Estonia and currently under discussion in Lithuania. According to several European diplomats, however, there are numerous obstacles. Chief among these is the fact that the power to grant or deny visas remains in the hands of individual governments, and the difficulty of proving whether a soldier has actually fought in Ukraine if the latter provides false information. 

All these issues have been postponed – perhaps – until 19 and 20 March.