Regardless of the issuing country, the ban will apply to all Russians with tourist visas, Czechia’s foreign minister said in Prague.

With this, not only Russians who have been granted a Schengen visa by the Czech authorities, but also the ban applies to Russian visitors who have been granted a visa by other Schengen associated countries.

Minister Lipovsky cited the ruthless shelling of civilians in Ukraine as the reason for the ban, as the Czech Republic cannot ignore it, Radio Free Europe explained.

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Before the Czech Republic, several other countries had already taken such a decision earlier in September and imposed an entry ban on all tourists from Russia.

The four EU states that border Russia – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – had already banned Russian tourists from entering their territory on September 19.

The foreign ministers of these four countries had indicated that the decision to ban the Russians was taken on the common basis of protecting internal security, public order and the overall security of the Schengen area. In addition, these ministers had urged other EU countries to impose a similar ban on Russian tourists.

Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš recently called on all leaders of EU countries to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens. He said he did not support the idea that allowing Russians fleeing mobilization into the EU would weaken the Kremlin’s armed forces.

Meanwhile, the Council of the European Union had previously planned not to accept Russian travel documents issued in Ukraine in Georgia. The EUC said that the ambassadors to the EU have agreed on a mandate to negotiate with the European Parliament on a decision on the non-acceptance of Russian travel documents issued in the two aforementioned countries, reported schengenVisaInfo.com.

The decision was made amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia’s unilateral decision to recognize the independence of the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008.