The Estonian government on Thursday announced that it will ban Russians with Estonian-issued Schengen visas from entering the country, effective August 18th.

"We see that the number of Russian citizens passing through Estonia or coming to Estonia from Russia has increased massively," said Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu.

"The possibility for Russian citizens to visit Estonia en masse or through Estonia to Europe is not in line with the purpose of the sanctions we have imposed," he added.

The rule will apply as of August 18, but excludes Russian citizens with visas issued by other EU countries. It also excludes Russian citizens who have a long-term residence in Estonia, Russian diplomats and their family, workers transporting goods and passengers, people visiting close relatives, citizens granted with freedom of movement under EU law, and people traveling for humanitarian reasons.

The Czech Republic became the first EU country to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens in late February, and both Finland and Latvia are calling for all EU countries to impose a full ban on Russian travelers. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Monday she expected the issue to be discussed at upcoming EU leaders' summits.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made it clear that such a blanket measure went too far, saying he would have “difficulty” envisaging such a move.

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