Estonia has no plans to introduce new travel restrictions for Russian citizens
The Estonian authorities do not intend to introduce new entry restrictions for citizens of Russia and Belarus following Latvia, where a bill proposing to tighten rules for citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has been submitted to the country's parliament. This was reported in the Estonian Ministry of Interior on January 17, reports the newspaper Postimees.
The Latvian government is considering plans to introduce fines of up to €2 thousand for citizens of Russia, Belarus and other members of the community, if they refuse to provide the necessary information about themselves. This includes, in particular, the status of an official, contact details, travel route and others.
The Estonian agency said that the country's Interior Ministry had no such plans.
Earlier, on January 16, the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RST) with reference to the data of tour operators reported that after the New Year vacations it became easier for Russians to obtain a Schengen visa for travel in Europe. It was noted that the most affordable option for Schengen is Greece. Currently, three European countries have visa-free regime with Russia: Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro.
Before that, December 13, 2024, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko extended visa-free regime for 38 countries of the European Union (EU) until the end of 2025. It was specified that tourists from Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Germany, Estonia, Italy, France and the UK enjoy the advantage of visa-free entry.
In late December 2023, Lukashenko supported the extension of visa-free entry to Belarus for citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Then Minsk noted that the visa-free regime in 2022-2023 showed a steady interest of residents of neighboring countries to visit the republic, despite the obstacles and restrictions on the part of the leadership of these countries.
In September 2022, the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) and Poland closed entry to the Schengen zone for Russians, if they travel for tourist, cultural, sports and business purposes.