In his article for the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna writes that to protect the residents and societies of Europe, European leaders must ensure that participants in Russia's aggressive war cannot enter the Schengen zone.
“Participants in Russia's aggressive war should not enter Europe. Former Russian soldiers pose a security threat,” writes Tsahkna in an article titled “Russian veterans need to be banned from entry.”
“This war, during which civilians were executed on the streets of Bucha, has produced a large number of fighters with combat experience who today represent a specific threat to the internal security of Europe. Without a Europe-wide ban on the issuance of visas and residence permits, the perpetrators of this aggressive war are moving through the Schengen zone under the protection of our own rules,” Tsahkna writes, noting that the scale of the problem is enormous.
About 1.5 million people have fought in service of Russia's imperialist goals. Among them are convicted criminals released from prisons and sent directly to the front, including those convicted of violent crimes: murder, causing grievous bodily harm, and other serious offenses. By the end of 2024, up to 180,000 prisoners will have been recruited in this way.
Now these fighters possess extensive combat experience; they have systematically applied violence and participated in war crimes and atrocities against the civilian population of Ukraine. The combination of a criminal past, military experience, and ideological conditioning, under which many of them openly consider Europe their enemy, turns them into a specific and long-term security threat.
Europe already has experience with the long-term risks associated with the return of combatants from war. From Islamist militants from Syria and Iraq to veterans of the Balkan wars, people with combat experience have subsequently chosen the path of terrorism, joined extremist networks, or turned to serious organized crime. Combat experience does not disappear upon return.
The threat is not abstract. Without a unified entry ban, it is quite possible that individuals involved in atrocities in places like Bucha will one day be able to travel freely across Europe. Those who carried weapons there may later, under the same Schengen rules, board a train as ordinary passengers traveling from Warsaw to Berlin, Paris, or Amsterdam. If nothing changes, the security risks that Europe has already faced will recur – this time as a direct consequence of Russia's aggressive war.
Allowing these individuals to enter the Schengen zone or settle there after participating in the most brutal war in Europe since World War II would be a serious but preventable mistake – a mistake that would directly threaten the security and well-being of our citizens.
This is not speculation. We already see how Moscow uses all available means against the democratic West: diplomats are used to recruit agents of influence, migration is turned into a tool of pressure, and energy, disinformation, and criminal networks are used for blackmail.
Former members of the Russian armed forces pose a clear threat to internal security. They are fertile ground for recruitment by Russian intelligence services and can be used for sabotage, destabilization, cyberattacks, mobilization of extremists, and organized crime on European soil. This fully fits into Moscow's hybrid aggression scheme.
Heads of state and government of European countries must act immediately to protect our population and our societies. Participants in Russia's aggressive war should not be allowed to enter the European Union and undermine our internal security. Europe must impose a unified ban on the issuance of Schengen visas and residence permits to individuals who fought on the side of Russia in Ukraine.
This is not collective punishment, but holding individuals accountable. Participation in an aggressive war is not a neutral act. International law is crystal clear, and trust in Europe depends on the alignment of its principles and actions.
Estonia has already taken the first decisive step by imposing a ban on entry to the Schengen zone for 261 individuals involved in Russia's war against Ukraine. A ban extending across the entire Schengen zone would also send a clear political signal: aggression has long-term consequences. One cannot commit atrocities against a neighboring country and then expect to enjoy European freedoms, prosperity, and security.
This is about protection – protecting our citizens, our democratic institutions, and the rules-based order that unites Europe. As a priority, EU member states must implement a comprehensive entry ban and deny visas and residence permits to all identified Russian citizens who participated in the aggressive war against Ukraine.
Those who participated in Russia's aggressive war cannot be treated as ordinary travelers in free Europe. The security of Europe demands clarity, unity, and determination – and the moment for action has come.
