In a move that’s sending ripples through diplomatic circles and upending travel plans for thousands, the European Union has officially tightened its visa rules for Russian citizens, citing mounting security concerns linked to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The decision, announced by the European Commission on November 8, 2025, comes as Europe faces a surge in drone incursions, acts of sabotage, and what officials describe as a growing threat of disinformation and hybrid warfare originating from Moscow.
"Travelling to and freely moving within the EU is a privilege, not a given," declared EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, as reported by the Associated Press. Her statement set the tone for a policy shift that’s been brewing for months, especially as mysterious drone sightings have rattled several European countries in recent weeks. Belgium, in particular, has found itself in the crosshairs, prompting immediate measures to counter future drone incursions and a request for military support from Germany (according to multiple European outlets).
Under the new rules, Russian citizens can no longer obtain multiple-entry visas for the Schengen area—a zone that includes 25 of the 27 EU member countries, as well as Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. Instead, Russians must now apply for a fresh visa for each trip. The European Commission says this change will allow for “close and frequent scrutiny of applicants to mitigate any potential security risk,” as quoted by the Commission and confirmed by the BBC.
The clampdown isn’t a blanket ban, but it’s certainly a major inconvenience for many Russian travelers. Exceptions have been carved out for individuals “whose reliability and integrity is without doubt,” including political dissidents, independent journalists, and human rights defenders. Immediate family members of Russians legally residing in the EU, as well as family members of EU citizens living in Russia, are also eligible for multiple-entry visas—though even these are now capped at one year. Transport workers may be granted visas lasting up to nine months, according to the European Commission’s official statement.
The rationale behind the move is clear. As Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, put it, “Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine continues to pose a serious threat to European security, with heightened risks related to sabotage, disinformation and drone incursions in the Union.” The EU, she said, has a duty to safeguard its citizens and territory.
This isn’t the first time the EU has tightened its stance. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU suspended its visa facilitation agreement with Moscow, making the process for obtaining a visa more expensive and time-consuming. The results were immediate and dramatic: the number of visas issued to Russians plummeted from over 4 million in 2019 to around 500,000 in 2023, as noted by the Associated Press and corroborated by EU statistics. There was a slight uptick in 2024, with 606,594 applications, but the share of refusals actually decreased from 10.6% in 2023 to 7.5% in 2024—perhaps a sign that the most persistent applicants were the ones most likely to succeed.
Despite the sharp drop, popular tourist destinations such as Italy, France, and Spain have continued to issue the highest number of visas to Russian citizens, according to data released by the European Commission. The new restrictions, however, are expected to further shrink those numbers and make travel more arduous for Russian tourists, who will now face additional checks and paperwork for every trip.
The EU’s decision didn’t come out of the blue. In the weeks leading up to the announcement, European officials had been sounding the alarm over a series of drone sightings and suspected sabotage incidents. While the attribution of these events remains the purview of individual member states, the consensus in Brussels is that Europe is facing a new kind of hybrid warfare—one that demands a coordinated and robust response. “We are now facing unprecedented disruptions from drones and sabotage on our territory. We have a duty to protect our citizens,” Kaja Kallas emphasized in her statement, as reported by the European Commission.
The visa clampdown has drawn a sharp reaction from Moscow. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova didn’t mince words, accusing the EU of hypocrisy and shortsightedness. “The EU prefers Ukrainian defectors and illegal migrants to Russian tourists with spending power,” she said, as quoted by several Russian and European news outlets. In a televised interview, Zakharova warned that Russia is considering countermeasures, but “they will be taken carefully and in accordance, first of all, with our national interests.” She also mocked the EU’s logic, saying, “The European Commission apparently figured: ‘Why does Western Europe need creditworthy tourists when there are illegal migrants living on benefits and Ukrainian draft dodgers?’”
It’s not just rhetoric—Russia is actively weighing its response. Zakharova confirmed that corresponding measures will be taken with a view to Russia’s interests, though she stopped short of detailing what those might be. “There will be countermeasures, but they will be taken carefully and in accordance, first of all, with our national interests,” she reiterated on the TVC channel.
The EU’s new restrictions are already reverberating beyond the bloc’s borders. Non-EU Schengen countries are expected to join the clampdown, and the European Commission has urged Serbia to halt its practice of granting citizenship to Russians—a loophole that has allowed some to bypass EU restrictions and enter Europe more easily. The Commission warned that this “poses potential security risks for the EU.”
The visa changes come at a time of heightened tension not just between Russia and the EU, but also within Ukraine itself. Just a day before the EU’s announcement, Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Centrenergo revealed that all its thermal power plants had stopped producing electricity after what it described as the most massive Russian attack since the start of the invasion. The blackout affected plants in Vuglehirska (Donetsk), Trypilska (Kiev), and Zmiivska (Kharkiv), leaving the country’s power production at zero and underscoring the ongoing toll of the conflict on civilian infrastructure.
As the diplomatic and economic standoff deepens, all eyes are on Brussels and Moscow to see what comes next. Will the new visa rules stem the tide of security threats, or simply widen the rift between Russia and Europe? For now, one thing is certain: travel between the two is about to get a whole lot more complicated.
