Estonia wants to prohibit Russian citizens who received a visa in a third EU country to enter the country. As stated by the head of the Estonian Foreign Ministry, Urmas Reinsalu, the basic agreement of the European Union allows member states to take such a step, reports ERR.

August 11 the Estonian government decided to stop allowing Russian citizens with the Schengen visas, issued by Estonia, to enter the country. The sanction comes into force on Friday. This decision applies only to visas issued by Estonia, and does not affect visas issued by other Schengen countries.

Estonia is currently working on a solution that could be used to prohibit entry into Estonia with visas issued in third European Union countries.

Reinsalu said they have agreed that the Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry will prepare their possible proposals next week on how to close the Estonian border and those Russian citizens who have a Schengen visa that has not been issued by Estonia.

Vice Chancellor of the Ministry of the Interior Veiko Komussaar said the work is still ongoing, and the proposal is currently being formalized and should be ready this week.

The EU Treaty provides for exceptions that can be made in the interest of public order, security, which is the casus belli right now, and in the interest of the health of the people. After all, this precedent provided an opportunity to impose very extensive restrictions. This mass of Russian citizens, 850,000 people who have entered the European Union as of the end of the first week of August, unfortunately, is growing, so they must be prepared to take steps to support Ukraine's victory, Reinsalu said.

However, he said, the goal is a pan-European visa ban for Russian citizens, and work is being done in the name of that.

Reinsalu said certainly their main wish is to achieve a pan-European agreement to close the entry of Russian citizens into the European Union. They are working to find common ground with countries that have a land border with Russia. As for closing the Estonian land border, their experts are working on it,

Persons who are employees of diplomatic missions in Estonia and their family members, persons engaged in international cargo and passenger transportations, persons having the right of free movement under the EU legislation, persons whose entry into Estonia is necessary for humanitarian reasons, and close relatives or spouses of persons having Estonian citizenship or permanent residence permit in Estonia will not fall under the sanction.