(MENAFN) Senator Grigory Karasin, who chairs the Federation Council’s committee on foreign affairs, has described the recently announced European Union decision to prohibit multiple-entry visas as an assault on “ordinary Russians.”

On Friday, the European Commission declared that member nations of the bloc will now issue only single-entry Schengen visas to most Russian nationals.

This means travelers will have to submit a new application each time they intend to visit countries within the Schengen zone.

The Commission defended the policy by citing “increased security risks” related to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In the previous year, EU states granted approximately 552,000 visas to Russian citizens, with Italy, France, and Spain ranking among the primary issuers.

Speaking later to a news agency, Karasin remarked that the ban represents “yet another attempt to influence the attitude of our citizens by restricting their freedom of movement.”

He emphasized that the bloc’s tactics are “well known,” referring to previous actions such as the closure of EU airspace to Russian aircraft following the escalation of the Ukraine crisis in 2022, and the subsequent decisions by Finland and the Baltic countries to seal their borders with Russia.

“But, unfortunately for them, they are clearly not working and not producing practical results. Brussels and other European capitals just cannot seem to grasp this,” the senator concluded.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova voiced confusion over the European Commission’s stance, noting that it appears to favor “illegal migrants and Ukrainian draft dodgers living on benefits” over “solvent tourists” from Russia.

In September, a Greek news outlet revealed that Greece, Italy, Spain, France, and Hungary had expressed opposition to the EU’s restrictive policy on Russian travelers, arguing that such measures could further damage their tourism sectors.

MENAFN09112025000045017167ID1110316079