Politico: Estonia wants to ban Russians who participated in war from EU

Estonia is proposing to ban Russian military personnel who participated in the war against Ukraine from entering the Schengen area. This was reported by the newspaper Politico with reference to unnamed interlocutors familiar with the matter.

The European Union's Foreign Affairs Council discussed Estonia's initiative to ban former Russian military personnel who participated in the war from entering the EU.

There are concerns that a final peace agreement could lead to thousands of former fighters, many with criminal records, crossing the border.

"[After] four years of fighting, we're talking about even a million people-certainly hundreds of thousands-who are still fighting. These are big numbers. But what happens when they want to get into the Schengen [area]?" said an unnamed Estonian diplomat.

Tallinn has warned of a sharp rise in violent crime in Russia as demobilized soldiers – some of whom were released after serving in prison battalions – return from the front.

"One of the ways to reduce the risk is to put as many people who have proven their participation in the war against Ukraine on the Schengen blacklist as possible," the diplomat added.

The problem is that the current identification and entry ban systems are too slow and too dependent on individual EU countries, the diplomat said.

Although EU countries "morally" support Estonia's aspirations, according to one European official, implementing the ban will be difficult for many of them. Estonia has the legal right to impose a complete ban, while other countries will need to compile an individualized list of Russian invaders and gather evidence to justify the decision.

• As of September 2025, the DIU evaluated russian contingent of 700,000 people. This included support forces, special services, and the Russian Guard.
• On December 5, it was reported that in almost four years of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the occupiers who returned from the combat zone, killed and maimed more than 1000 people at home.