A Travel Ban Isn’t the Way to Punish Russia

Czech Foreign Minister

Jan Lipavský

now says an EU-wide visa ban should be the next step in efforts by Brussels to punish Russia, citing security concerns raised by Russians’ ability to enter Europe as justification. But the proposal doesn’t stand up to scrutiny and only highlights the EU’s inability to inflict more pain on

Vladimir Putin’s

regime.

Mr. Zelensky says “Russians should live in their own world until they change their philosophy.” Mr. Lipavský agrees, saying “there can be no talk of ordinary tourism by Russian citizens” while Moscow continues its aggression. The Czech visa ban in February may have initially come across as a knee-jerk response, but it now appears visionary, with EU ministers expected to discuss proposals for a blanket ban at a meeting in the Czech Republic on Aug. 31.

Prague claims the ban on Russian travelers is needed because the EU risks being infiltrated by secret agents. “It’s about our security,” Mr. Lipavský said. “I’ve been trying for a long time to reduce the influence of the Russian secret services on EU territory.”

The Czech Republic has more reason than most to be concerned about Russian covert activity. The role of the Russian Embassy in Prague as a European intelligence hub for the Kremlin was one of Central Europe’s worst-kept secrets until a wave of expulsions last year, when it was discovered that Russian spies had been responsible for blowing up a Czech arms depot in 2014.

The Ukraine war has seen further expulsions relating to intelligence activity, including that of the former Russian deputy ambassador to Prague. And there are fears among the public of a Russian fifth column. The director of the Czech secret services has warned that spies could be hiding among the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the country, saying that “among the migrants there may be people sent by Russia who have tasks in our region.”

Yet in presenting a visa ban to ensure the EU’s security, Mr. Lipavský unintentionally highlights the moral problem with the proposal now confronting the bloc as a whole. There’s more than a whiff of McCarthyism in the idea that all Russians—including, by implication, the almost 50,000 already living in the Czech Republic—should be deemed a security threat simply by virtue of being Russian.

Some universities and private companies in the Czech Republic have already started asking that Russians confirm their opposition to the war in order to access services—precisely the kind of statement that could land them with a hefty jail term if they ever return home. The government in July suggested that Russians should be excluded from technical degrees such as cybernetics and aviation, though universities say they may be allowed to continue studying if they submit a formal letter distancing themselves from Mr. Putin’s actions.

Questions of consistency must also be addressed. Will the EU now ban entry to all citizens of all states engaged in wars of aggression around the world? If so, how will the boundaries of public culpability be drawn? Common standards must be applied if the integrity of Europe’s own commitment to the rule of law is to be maintained.

And while Mr. Zelensky’s calls for more action against Moscow are understandable, Europe is not at war with Russia. In fact, the EU remains painfully dependent on the Putin regime.

In Central Europe, this dependency was highlighted by panic over the temporary suspension of Russian oil pipeline deliveries at the start of August, resulting from transit issues caused by sanctions on Russia. EU companies ended up paying transit fees themselves to keep the oil flowing.

And far from hurting Mr. Putin’s regime by imposing sanctions on Russian gas, some EU states are hungry for more. Hungarian Prime Minister

Viktor Orbán

has struck a new deal with the Kremlin bringing an additional 700 million cubic meters of gas from Russia to Hungary over the coming months, on top of a new 15-year contract signed last year.

That the EU would consider placing the sins of the Putin regime on the Russian public while Russia’s state-owned energy giants continue to rake in Europe’s billions is a deeply offensive prospect. But confronted with an energy crisis, the EU has run out of ideas when it comes to hurting Mr. Putin economically.

To keep the sanctions regime going, the bloc is aiming for cheap PR blows against Mr. Putin rather than practical help for Ukraine. Whether it’s framed as a question of moral necessity or as a matter of security, banning entry to Russia runs contrary to the Western principles of liberty and tolerance for which Ukrainians are fighting.

Mr. Nattrass is a British journalist and commentator based in Prague.