nEUrosis

EU should go further on visas for Russians

June 13th, 2007 by Laura Citron

Last week 24 EU countries announced an easing of the visa regime for Russian citizens travelling to the EU. Whilst this is a step in the right direction, the reforms should go much further. The EU should abandon the principle of reciprocity (the protocol by which visa regimes are only eased in parallel by both sides) and unilaterally disarm its visa regime with Russia. It is simply perverse for the EU to implore Russia to be ‘more like us,’ whilst making it impossible for ordinary Russians to experience life in a European democracy.

As of 1 June, Russians travelling to 24 EU countries (not the UK, Ireland and Denmark) will face slightly softer visa regulations. Although the announcement has been talked up by both sides, the changes actually only apply to a few categories of travellers ( members of official delegations, close relatives, students, disabled people, participants of exchange programs, some researchers and children under 6). The changes were agreed at the EU-Russia Summit in Sochi in May 2006.

For a normal Russian citizen, getting an EU tourist visa is still almost impossible. I won’t bore you with the details, but having just tried (and failed) to get an EU visa invite for a friend, I know what a nightmare it is. So a generation of Russians is excluded from the EU, taking their holidays instead in Turkey or Morocco where the visa regimes are friendlier.

Many young Russians have never been to Western Europe or any other liberal democracy. (Though Eastern Europe was a popular holiday destination in Soviet times). Don’t be fooled by the Prada-sporting Russians who have taken over Courchevel – they are a tiny minority. The average well-educated, young professional Muscovite cannot get an EU visa. It is any surprise, then, that many are wholly disinterested in democracy? They see the current Russian ‘opposition’ as a collection of loons, troublemakers and power-seekers.

Western governments are desperate to democratize Russia. But neither headmasterly tickings-off (George W. Bush), or pouring millions into elitist NGOs (George Soros) seems to be working. Perhaps that is because the vast majority of Russians don’t believe the product we’re selling. Having lived through communism, perestroika and the Putin era, Russians are understandably cautious shoppers when it comes to political systems. If a true democratic movement emerges in Russia, it will most likely be from the new middle class. Yet our visa regime denies these very people a taste of what they could fight for. A unilateral easing of the EU’s visa regime with Russia would do a lot for grassroots democracy in Russia.

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