Germany is ready to suspend visa facilitation agreement with Russia

This was stated by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during the government meeting, CNN informs.

During a two-day informal meeting in Prague, EU defense and foreign ministers are considering further measures against Russia, and one of the proposals put forward by Eastern European countries is to ban Russian tourists from entering the EU.

Berlin is ready to suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Russia and stop issuing multiple-entry or multi-year visas.

The German government wants to make it possible for "persecuted people in Russia to leave the country very quickly", Baerbock said.

Germany would like persecuted Russian dissidents to be excluded from a possible visa ban for Russian citizens across the European Union.

"We do not punish those who still have the courage to oppose this regime", she said.

The possibility of obtaining a visa should give shelter not only to "very well-known journalists or very well-known oppositionists, but we must also leave the possibility for students who have the courage in their university to get information in other places", the minister said.

"We must prepare for the fact that Russia will continue to pose a threat to our security and our freedom for the foreseeable future, and that at the same time we cannot view all security policy solely from the perspective of this Russian war of aggression", she added.