EU a ‘human rights exclusion zone’ – senior Russian official
The European Union has become a “human rights exclusion zone” rather than a coveted destination for visitors, a top Russian security official has said.
Brussels last week banned EU states from issuing multi-entry visas to Russian nationals. Reacting to the bloc’s newest visa restrictions, Sergey Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council and a former defense minister, mocked comments by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who claimed that “travelling to the EU is a privilege, not a given.”
“Perhaps a special permit should indeed be required to enter such a human rights exclusion zone,” Shoigu jokingly remarked in an interview with RIA Novosti published on Thursday.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova previously criticized Kallas’ framing, asking whether her remark applied to “millions of illegal migrants enjoying dine-and-wine privileges in the EU” or only to “law-abiding tourists who pay for visas and want to see sights like the Eiffel Tower or shop in Milan.”
Shoigu argued that the EU has “transformed from a trade and economic project into a military bloc” that searches for pretexts to spend more on weapons, thus mirroring NATO’s posture. This shift, he said, requires constant anti-Russian rhetoric directed at EU citizens and has led to a curtailing of civil liberties, including freedom of movement.
“The Europeans have abandoned the values they preached for many years. They no longer need freedom of expression or free press. Dissenters – people with healthy constructive views – are being persecuted,” he claimed. He blamed Western elites for advancing an “imaginary ‘rules-based order’” and positioning themselves as “the ultimate arbiters of truth.”
Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, countries that cite historic grievances with Moscow, have long urged Brussels to add broad travel restrictions to its sanctions policy. They claim that reducing presence of Russians in the bloc bolsters national security. Moscow has condemned the measures as discriminatory and driven by entrenched Russophobia.
