European Commission questions Hungary's Russian visa facilitation policy
The European Commission is seeking explanations from Hungary over its visa facilitation for Russians and Belarusians and their adherence to EU regulations, as the spokesperson for the EC, Anitta Hipper, announced on Tuesday. Hungary is not permitted to admit individuals who threaten the EU's security.
In July, Hungary decided to include Russia and Belarus in the list of countries whose citizens can bring their families and work as seasonal workers without undergoing security checks.
This concerns the so-called national card for temporary workers. The Hungarian government justified this move by citing the demand for labour to construct new blocks at the Paks nuclear power plant, a project undertaken by the Russian company Rosatom.
“The EC will contact the Hungarian authorities regarding this matter, especially to clarify the scope of the programme and whether it complies with EU rules or not,” the EC spokesperson stated on Tuesday.
Russia as a threat
She reminded that Russia is seen as a threat to the EU's security. “All instruments introduced at the level of member states cannot undermine the security of the EU and must consider the security of the Schengen area as a whole,” she emphasized.
Hungary, along with 28 other European countries, is part of the Schengen area—a zone with nearly 400 million people where one can travel without a passport and without border checks.
As Hipper stressed, membership in the Schengen area involves a series of obligations. Hungary, for instance, is obliged to verify whether citizens of third countries meet all the entry conditions into the EU as outlined in Article 6 of the Schengen Border Code. This article delineates the conditions that travellers must meet to stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days.
According to Article 6, Hipper explained that it's not only about whether citizens of third countries intending to enter Schengen have valid visas or residence permits but also whether they are listed in the Schengen Information System (SIS). Schengen countries use this system to exchange information about border management.
SIS somewhat replaces border checks; border and immigration services, police, customs authorities, and courts in the EU use it. An entry made in SIS by one country is visible to all the others. Based on the entry, admission can be denied to a person listed in SIS.
Article 6 of the Schengen Border Code also states that only citizens of third countries who "are not considered a threat to public order, internal security, public health, or international relations of any of the member states, and in particular, where no entries have been made to refuse entry in the national databases of member states on the same grounds," can enter the Schengen area.
