Looking into the future, Estonia is insisting on an EU-wide entry ban on former Russian soldiers who participated in the war against Ukraine.
“There cannot be a path from Bucha to Brussels,” Estonian’s Foreign Minister, Margus Tsahkna, has said in Brussels. He expressed his intention of raising the proposal at a meeting of EU foreign ministers later on January 29.
In January, Estonia banned access to the Schengen area for 261 Russian fighters.
Estonia wants a coordinated movement across the European bloc.
“We have close to 1 million combatants in Russia. They’re mainly criminals; they are very dangerous people,” Tsahkna said.
“We have information that most of them will come to Europe after the war. And Europe is not ready for that,” he went on.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas informed reporters that “many member states” have voiced their support for an entry-ban, and that the security risk after ceasefire is one that Europe needs to prepare for with a clear plan.
In Russia, soldiers returning home from the front in Ukraine have been linked to spikes in criminality. Over 1,000 people have been reportedly killed or injured by returning combatants over the past four years.
