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In response to
"not nyt's choice but my headline for this article is Sergey Lavrov Has A Potty Mouth"
by
crash davis
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The European Union weighs its response to Russians fleeing Putin’s call-up announcement.
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BRUSSELS — As Russians seeking to avoid being called up to fight in Ukraine flee the country in large numbers, European countries are scrambling over how to respond, weighing the desire to help those fleeing an unjust war with concerns about undermining the European Union’s security.
In principle, the E.U. said through a spokesman on Thursday, the bloc stood in solidarity with the thousands of men who do not want to fight. In practice, however, offering them asylum, or even a faster visa process to help them get out of Russia quickly, would be a challenge.
E.U. diplomats said that while there were strong voices within the bloc arguing for a generous approach to Russians trying to avoid military service, there was a broadly shared concern about how to verify people’s identities and background to ensure that those seeking E.U. protection are genuine asylum seekers and not Kremlin agents or provocateurs.
“Russians are voting with their feet, basically, on Putin’s regime and on Putin’s actions, especially in relation to his illegal war,” said Peter Stano, a spokesman for the European Commission, the E.U.’s executive branch. “We also feel sympathy with those Russian families who are fearing for their sons, brothers or fathers who are being sent to die in a senseless war, illegal war. So we feel with these people.”
In practice, however, the bloc was not immediately considering any blanket changes to its restrictive policies for allowing Russians in, having tightened rules for the issuance of tourist visas just weeks ago. In late August, after a heated debate, European foreign ministers agreed to suspend a 2007 agreement with Russia that made it easier for Russians to get visas to travel to the E.U. The changes mean that they now cost more, require more paperwork and involve longer delays.
Anitta Hipper, the European Commission’s spokeswoman for migration, said that the bloc stood by its commitment to examine every individual asylum request on a case-by-case basis. But she added that there were “security concerns” to take into account, and that individual European governments could take more restrictive approaches when assessing potential asylum applications by people evading Russian mobilization.
With the E.U.’s tough restrictions still in place, many Russians are opting to go to destinations that don’t require visas, such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
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