After cutting Russian tourist visas tenfold since the war began, Germany plans further reductions
Germany's Foreign Ministry says it intends to further reduce the number of tourist visas issued to Russian citizens, a figure that has already dropped more than tenfold since the full-scale war began. The move follows accusations that Russia tried to sabotage a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig Airport.
German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Martin Giese said Germany intends to further cut the number of tourist visas issued to Russian citizens, Deutsche Welle reported.
The announcement came a day after Germany accused Russia of attempting to sabotage a Ukrainian An-124 cargo plane at Leipzig Airport. Germany also said it would shut down Russia's consulate general in Bonn and the "Russian House" in Berlin, while tightening entry controls for Russian citizens.
Giese explained that tourist travel by Russian citizens to Germany "cannot continue in the same format as before," since "there is no normalcy" while Russia "wages an aggressive war." He noted that EU countries apply varying degrees of strictness when deciding whether to grant Schengen visas.
"There is still work to be done here. We will also be negotiating on this issue with our partners in the European Union. We want the number of visas issued to be reduced even further," the spokesperson said.
Giese said the goal is to allow entry only to Russians who pose no danger, though he did not specify how that would be assessed. He added that revealing further details now would be unwise, since Berlin's aim is to "minimize risks" and it does not want to give anyone a chance to circumvent the controls.
Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergei Nechaev told the state news agency TASS that staff at the "Russian House" in Berlin had been ordered to leave the country within seven days. He noted that the intergovernmental agreement governing the center's operations runs until summer 2027, but that its staff, who represent Rossotrudnichestvo, must nonetheless depart.
Sabotage attempt in Leipzig
On the night of August 5, a drone carrying explosives was found near an Ukrainian An-124 cargo plane loaded with ammunition at Leipzig Airport; it later emerged several drones had been involved. On September 1, Germany formally blamed Russia for the attempted sabotage, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Germany was "following a path of further escalation."
According to DW, German consulates issued about 27,000 short-term Schengen visas to Russian citizens in 2024, down from roughly 330,000 in 2019, before the pandemic. Across the EU as a whole, member states issued 620,000 Schengen visas to Russians in 2025 — up 10.2% from the previous year — with nearly three-quarters of all applications going to France, Italy, and Spain.
