World Tourism Network opposes a general ban on Russian tourist visas as Sweden calls for a stricter EU approach
The World Tourism Network (WTN) has opposed general restrictions on tourist visas for Russian citizens at a time when Sweden and a group of European states are calling on the European Union to take a stricter approach to issuing Schengen visas to people travelling from Russia to Europe for holidays, shopping and luxury trips. The debate was reopened at a meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg, held on 4 June 2026, where Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell, according to media and agency reports, said that the practice of Russian citizens coming for “shopping weekends” and holidays while Ukrainians are dying on the battlefield cannot continue. The issue is politically sensitive because it lies at the intersection of security policy, sanctions against Russia, the right to travel, Schengen rules and the economic interests of the tourism sector.
WTN, an organisation that presents itself as a global advocate for small and medium-sized enterprises in tourism, says its own data show that it brings together members and observers in more than 130 countries. Its opposition to a “blanket” approach, meaning general and non-selective restrictions, does not change the fact that the EU has already significantly tightened the visa regime for Russian citizens after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, it opens a debate on whether new measures should be aimed exclusively at security risks, people connected with the regime, propaganda structures or intelligence activities, or whether they should be applied broadly on the basis of citizenship as the criterion. In practice, such a decision could also affect tour operators, hotels, carriers and destinations that still record demand from the Russian market.
Sweden seeks an end to tourist travel it considers politically unacceptable
According to a Guardian report, which cites agency information from the meeting in Luxembourg, Forssell said on 4 June 2026 that the EU should refuse visas to Russian citizens travelling for shopping and luxury holidays. In the same context, he stressed that, in his view, it is unacceptable for recreational travel to Europe to continue while the war in Ukraine continues. The Swedish minister, according to Aftonbladet, believes that the practice of weekend trips and luxury shopping around the Mediterranean must be stopped at a time when Ukrainian civilians and soldiers are suffering the consequences of Russian attacks. His proposal was presented as part of a broader effort to close loopholes in the system which, according to Swedish arguments, Russia could use for intelligence activities, sabotage or circumventing restrictions.
In a letter that, according to available reports, was supported by Poland, Norway, the Baltic states and a number of other members of the Schengen area, it is warned that Russian tourists are still present on European beaches and in resorts while Russian missiles and drones hit Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure. The same reports state that more than 470,000 tourist Schengen visas were issued to Russian citizens during 2025, although the rules were already stricter than before the war. Aftonbladet published the figure of 477,878 Schengen visas issued to Russian citizens in 2025, noting that Sweden wants member states to be able to refuse visas on the basis of citizenship when they justify this on security grounds. Such an approach, however, would require careful alignment with European law and the practice of individual assessment of applications.
The EU has already abolished facilitations and restricted multiple-entry visas
The visa regime for Russian citizens has been changing gradually since 2022. In September 2022, the Council of the EU suspended the visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Russia, after which the general Visa Code began to apply to Russian applicants. This abolished earlier facilitations, and the procedure became more expensive, slower and subject to stricter checks. The European Commission then adopted an implementing decision in November 2025 that significantly restricted the issuing of multiple-entry visas to Russian citizens living in Russia and applying in Russia. According to the Commission’s explanation, Russian citizens can no longer regularly obtain multiple-entry visas, but must submit a new application for each planned trip to the EU in order to allow more frequent and more detailed security checks.
That decision does not mean a complete ban on entry for all Russian citizens. The European Commission provided for limited exceptions for justified cases, including close family members of EU citizens or Russian citizens legally residing in the Union, as well as for certain groups whose credibility and integrity can be specifically demonstrated, such as independent journalists, human rights defenders and people who oppose the regime. A Schengen visa, under EU rules, usually allows a short stay of up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area. That area today includes 29 states, including 25 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, while Ireland has its own visa policy.
The tourism sector warns of the risks of a non-selective approach
The position of the World Tourism Network fits into a broader debate within the tourism industry on how to reconcile security and the openness of travel. In its public descriptions, WTN is focused on small and medium-sized enterprises in tourism, which are often the most sensitive to sudden regulatory changes, market disruptions and declines in international demand. For such entities, especially in destinations that depend on seasonal traffic and visitor spending, general bans can have consequences that do not stop with large hotel groups or airlines. They can spill over to local guides, small agencies, restaurants, carriers, landlords and cultural attractions.
Opponents of non-selective restrictions usually warn that citizenship in itself is not proof of a security risk, political responsibility or support for the war. This argument is especially important when it comes to Russian dissidents, independent journalists, activists, family members living in different states and people who left Russia because of disagreement with Kremlin policy. On the other hand, states seeking stricter measures argue that the war has changed the security environment and that visa policy cannot be viewed separately from hybrid threats, sabotage, intelligence activities and attempts to circumvent sanctions. That is why the main question is whether the EU can shape rules that will be strict enough for security objectives, while at the same time precise enough not to punish all individuals without distinction.
Visa data show that travel has not stopped
The European Commission announced that EU states and Schengen associated countries received almost 12 million applications for short-stay visas in 2025, a slight increase compared with 2024, but still significantly less than the 17 million applications recorded in 2019, before the pandemic. In its State of Schengen report for 2026, the Commission states that the Schengen area remained the world’s most visited destination in 2025, with more than 790 million travellers, and that about 10 million visas were issued. These data show that international mobility has recovered, but also that visa policy is increasingly being viewed as a security instrument, not merely as an administrative procedure for travellers.
When it comes to Russian citizens, available reports show that the number of applications and issued visas increased in 2025 compared with the previous year, although it remained far below the levels recorded before 2022. It was precisely this growth that caused political dissatisfaction in countries on Europe’s eastern and northern flank, especially in Poland, the Baltic states and the Nordic countries. For those states, the issue of tourist visas is not only symbolic, but is linked to the assessment of security risks and the experience of direct exposure to Russian pressure. For some western and southern EU member states, which traditionally have greater tourist traffic and stronger commercial ties with travellers from Russia, the debate is more complex because it also includes economic consequences and legal standards of individual assessment.
The war in Ukraine remains the main political framework of the debate
The debate on Russian tourist visas is not taking place in isolation from the broader EU response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Eurostat data show that at the end of March 2026 there were about 4.33 million people in the EU who had fled Ukraine and had temporary protection status. The largest numbers were in Germany, Poland and Czechia, and temporary protection remains one of the most important instruments of Europe’s response to the mass displacement caused by the war. At the same meeting in Luxembourg, according to the Guardian, a debate was also opened on the future legal status of displaced persons from Ukraine, including a Swedish proposal concerning new arrivals of Ukrainian men of military age. That part of the debate further underlined how closely migration, security and foreign-policy issues are interconnected.
In October 2025, the EU also adopted its 19th sanctions package against Russia, targeting energy, finance, the military-industrial complex and the movement of Russian diplomats within the Union. The Council of the EU then stated that the measures were aimed at sectors that support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while the European Commission highlighted the ban on Russian liquefied natural gas from 2027 and additional measures against the so-called shadow fleet. Although tourist visas are not the same as economic sanctions, political pressure for their further restriction stems from the same effort to reduce the space for normalising relations with Russia while the war continues. For supporters of stricter measures, allowing holidays and luxury travel sends the wrong signal; for opponents of general bans, non-selective measures may weaken the credibility of the European approach to human rights.
Key question: ban, security screening or selective exceptions
In practical terms, the EU stands between several possible approaches. The first is a further tightening of the rules through an almost complete suspension of tourist visas for Russian citizens, which would satisfy the demands of states that believe any recreational travel to the EU is politically and security-wise unacceptable. The second is maintaining the existing system, but with more consistent application of checks, shorter visa validity periods and a narrower circle of justified travel. The third is targeted refusal of applications when there are indications of links with Russian state structures, the propaganda apparatus, sanctioned persons or security risks, while preserving the possibility of travel for humanitarian, family, professional and opposition-related cases.
Such a difference is not merely technical. If the criterion is set too broadly, it may affect people who are not connected with Russian state policy and who sometimes maintain links with independent media, education, family or a safer space for public activity precisely through travel. If the criterion is set too narrowly, states warning of hybrid threats will argue that the EU is leaving open channels that Moscow can exploit. That is why every new decision will have to balance the political message, security effectiveness, legal sustainability and humanitarian exceptions. In this framework, the World Tourism Network’s opposition to general restrictions represents the voice of part of the tourism sector seeking a more precise approach, while Sweden and its allies insist that the wartime situation requires a much sharper response.
For travellers from Russia, the outcome of the debate could mean even longer procedures, more documentation, stricter checks of the purpose of travel and a lower likelihood of obtaining tourist visas, especially for trips that cannot be justified by family, humanitarian, business or other necessary reasons. For European states, the decision will show how ready they are to jointly harmonise visa policy in circumstances in which national security assessments and economic interests are not always the same. For the tourism industry, the debate confirms that travel is no longer only a matter of markets and demand, but also part of broader European policy towards the war, sanctions and the security of the Schengen area.
Sources:
- World Tourism Network – official description of the organisation, membership and role in representing small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (link)
- The Guardian / agency report – statements from the ministerial meeting in Luxembourg, comments by Johan Forssell and data on the proposal for stricter restrictions on Russian tourist visas (link)
- Aftonbladet – Swedish report on Johan Forssell’s proposal, the number of Schengen visas issued and the states supporting the initiative (link)
- European Commission – overview of EU visa measures towards Russian citizens after the invasion of Ukraine (link)
- European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs – statistics on short-stay Schengen visas and applications for 2025 (link)
- Council of the European Union – agenda and topics of the meeting of interior ministers on 4 June 2026 within the Justice and Home Affairs Council (link)
- Eurostat – data on people who fled Ukraine and had temporary protection in the EU by the end of March 2026 (link)
- Council of the European Union – information on the 19th package of sanctions against Russia and additional measures related to the war in Ukraine (link)