Borrell opposes visa ban on all Russians, says the move would lack necessary support

EU, Aug 29:-- European Union's foreign policy chief says he opposes banning visa grants for all Russian nationals and that EU foreign ministers are also unlikely to unanimously back the move.

“I don’t think that to cut the relationship with the Russian civilian population will help and I don’t think that this idea will have the required unanimity,” Borrell, who chairs EU foreign ministers’ meetings, told Austria’s ORF TV on Sunday.

According to the top EU diplomat, EU foreign ministers, who are set to meet later this week, are not likely to unanimously support the ban.

“I think that we have to review the way that some Russians get a visa, certainly the oligarchs not. We have to be more selective. But I am not in favor of stopping delivering visas to all Russians," he said.

EU ministers are slated to support the suspension of a 2007 agreement with Moscow that gave preferential treatment to visa requests by Russians, according to Financial Times, citing anonymous officials.

The development came after some member states of the EU, such as Finland, Poland, and Baltic countries, threatened to unilaterally close their borders to Russian tourists, in a bid to stand against Moscow for its military operation in Ukraine.

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