Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Commission has questioned Hungary’s decision to ease visa requirements for Russian and Belarusian citizens, fearing it undermines Schengen Area security and circumvents EU limitations.
What is the European Commission’s stance?
The European Commission has questioned Hungary to explain its recent conclusion to ease visa requirements for Russian and Belarusian citizens, which Brussels fears “could lead to a de facto circumvention” of the bloc’s limitations and undermine safety measures across the passport-free Schengen Area.
“Russia is a security threat. We need more, not less vigilance. Giving potential Russian spies and saboteurs easy EU access would undermine the security of us all,” stated Ylva Johansson, the Europen Commissioner for Home Affairs. “If their easy access scheme is a risk, we will act.”
How does this impact Schengen Area security?
In a note addressed to Hungary’s Ministry of Interior, Johansson examines the fresh changes to the country’s National Card scheme, which facilitates visa procedures and security background checks for “guest workers” in specific sectors.
The visa lasts for two years and can be continued for an additional three, paving the way for qualifying for permanent residency. In early July, overlapping with the start of Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council and Viktor Orbán’s controversial trip to Moscow, the country extended the National Card to citizens from Russia and Belarus. It was previously extended to applicants from Ukraine, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia.
Budapest expresses many of these workers will be utilised in the construction of a nuclear plant using Russian technology, which Orbán has demanded be spared from sanctions.
What are Manfred Weber’s security concerns?
The update initially went unrecognised until Manfred Weber, the chair of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), sent a letter in late July to European Council President Charles Michel, requiring a discussion at the leaders’ level. The “questionable” new rules “create grave loopholes for espionage activities” and could enable “large numbers of Russians to enter Hungary with minimal supervision, posing a serious risk to national security,” Weber stated in his letter, first reported by the FT.
Orbán’s spokesperson explained Weber’s words as “absurd and hypocritical” and declared Hungary’s migration system was the “strictest” in the bloc.
The EU Commission, which is entrusted with ensuring national legislation concedes with EU norms, jumped into the growing controversy. “We must remain vigilant as Russia employs every unconventional tool to destabilise the European Union and its values,” Johansson states in her missive.
At the core of the EU Commission’s troubles is the functioning of the Schengen Area, a vast region that encompasses 450 million residents across 29 European countries and where border checks have been cancelled to allow seamless transit of people.
