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They spoke after paying tribute to the victims of Monday's attack in the Belgian capital, home to the EU institutions, and condemning what they branded a brutal terrorist attack. Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Europe's open-border Schengen zone would not survive unless the EU's external frontiers were better protected from unwanted immigration. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the EU also needed a more effective system of returning unauthorised immigrants. The 45-year-old gunman arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2011 and then lived in Sweden before claiming asylum in Belgium. EU migration ministers will discuss the plans in Brussels on Thursday, as will national leaders next week.

Persons: Ulf Kristersson, Alexander De Croo, Yves Herman Acquire, Margaritis Schinas, Abdesalem Al Guilani, RTBF, Abdesalem, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Johnny Cotton, Anna Ringstrom, Benoit van Overstraeten, Gabriela Baczynska, Gareth Jones, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Swedish, Belgian, REUTERS, Sweden's, EU, STV, European Commission, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: Sweden, Brussels, Belgium, BRUSSELS, Tunisia, Swedish, Belgian, Europe, Lampedusa, Israel

He lost his case in October 2020 and, the following March, was issued an order to leave Belgium. With at least three EU countries involved, the case points up the challenges the EU faces tracking people across the bloc's Schengen open-travel zone that is mostly free of border checks. Proponents of the EU's new migration pact - which has been tentatively agreed by most EU countries and is now being further negotiated with the European Parliament - say it would support returns by shortening time for migration and asylum procedures. "Those who are not allowed to stay in the EU must leave Europe. "This is a wake-up call for those who are not ready to accept ... the migration pact."

Persons: Alexander de Croo, Vincent Van Quickenborne, Manfred Weber, Marine Strauss, Bart Meijer, Angelo Amante, Gabriela Baczynska, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Belgium Case, EU, Immigration, Belgian, Frontex, Eurostat, Reuters, European People's Party, Thomson Locations: Italy, Sweden, Belgium, BRUSSELS, ROME, Tunisia, Europe, Israel, Germany, Brussels, Tunis, ITALY, SWEDEN, BELGIUM, Lampedusa, Poland, Hungary, East, Africa, Rome

☆ Poland, Czech Republic extend border controls with Slovakia
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Polish soldiers guard along a temporary checkpoint at the Slovakia-Poland border, as seen from the village Skalite, Slovakia, October 4, 2023. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWARSAW, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Poland and the Czech Republic will extend temporary controls on their borders with Slovakia into November as countries seek to restrict the flow of illegal migrants. The Polish government has decided to extend the controls by 20 days to Nov. 2, the interior ministry said in a statement. On Wednesday, Slovakia extended its own border controls with Hungary until Nov. 3. Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Germany are all part of the EU's Schengen open-border zone.

Persons: Radovan Stoklasa, Mariusz Kaminski, Kaminski, Slovakia's, Anna Wlodarczak, Jason Hovet, Deborah Kyvrikosaios, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Union, Justice, Thomson Locations: Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Czech, Austria, East, Afghanistan, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, EU, Europe, Warsaw, Prague

☆ The EU is stuck with its one-trick refugee policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Barring an influx of younger people from Africa and Asia, the EU will become increasingly old, weak and irrelevant. Instead, the EU is focussing on stopping irregular migrants crossing the Mediterranean. To be fair, each EU country has procedures for dealing with migrants who arrive through legal routes. That’s a long way short of the height of the Syrian crisis in 2015, when about 1.8 million refugees crossed EU borders. The hope is that the Mediterranean countries will then process asylum seekers when they arrive - and the EU’s internal borders will stay open.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Marine Le, Italy don’t, Martinez, Peter Thal Larsen, Katrina Hamlin, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Eurostat, EU, Reuters Graphics, Italian, Centre, European, Bank, Thomson Locations: Africa, Asia, EU, Spain, Europe, Turkey, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Lampedusa, Tunis, West Balkan, United Kingdom, That’s, Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy, Hungary, Saharan Africa, Latin America

[1/2] Police detain suspects as they patrol along the German-Polish border to prevent illegal migration near Klinge, Germany, September 20, 2023. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser urged Germany's 16 states on Wednesday to provide asylum seekers with material benefits rather than cash, to reduce the country's pull factor. Migration analysts say much of the tougher stance is electioneering ahead of elections in Hesse and Bavaria on Sunday and in three eastern German states next year. Vorlaender noted that even if tougher controls worked, Germany risked creating a bigger problem for transit countries by bottling in migrants there. Germany's tougher stance on migration isn't so much a policy reversal as an evolution, said Susan Fratzke at the Migration Policy Institute.

Persons: Lisi Niesner, Nancy Faeser, Germany's, Olaf Scholz, Angela Merkel, Scholz, Russia's, Hannes Schammann, SHAM, Merkel, Friedrich Merz, “, ” Merz, Merz, Alberto ‑ Horst Neidhardt, Hans Vorlaender, Vorlaender, Ludovit, Susan Fratzke, Schammann, Sarah Marsh, Riham, Jan Lopatka, Alan Charlish, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Police, REUTERS, Authorities, EU, EU's Agency for Asylum, University of Hildesheim, Christian Democratic Union, European, Faeser, Migration Policy Institute, Berlin, Thomson Locations: Klinge, Germany, Berlin, BERLIN, Hesse, Bavaria, Europe, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Turkey, Ankara, Prague, Warsaw

Dealing with illegal migration has been a point of contention and unity in central Europe. Illegal migration was a key issue in elections in Slovakia last weekend, and in elections in Poland later this month. Slovakia has faced a rising number of illegal migrants crossing as they head to Germany and western Europe. Slovakia said last month the number of detained illegal migrants had soared nine fold, to more than 27,000 this year. "In recent weeks, we detected and detained 551 illegal migrants at the border with Slovakia.

Persons: Radovan, Vit Rakusan, Gerhard Karner, spillover, Robert Fico, Fico, Mariusz Kaminski, Kaminski, Jason Hovet, Jan Lopatka, Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Wlodarczak, Francois Murphy, Andrew Heavens, Ed Osmond, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: REUTERS, Slovakia Czech, Austrian, Justice, Poland, Thomson Locations: Czech, Slovak, Stary Hrozenkov, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, PRAGUE, WARSAW, Poland, Europe, Hungary, Vienna, East, Afghanistan, Serbia, Prague, Warsaw

☆ Slovakia's Fico: border checks with Hungary a priority for new government
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SMER-SSD party leader Robert Fico arrives to the party's headquarters, after the country's early parliamentary elections, in Bratislava, Slovakia, October 1, 2023. REUTERS/Eva Kornikova Acquire Licensing RightsBRATISLAVA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Slovakia needs to restart border controls with Hungary to stem the flow of illegal migrants, election winner Robert Fico said on Sunday, flagging the issue as one of his potential government's first priorities. Fico campaigned strongly against illegal migration in the run-up to Saturday's election, criticising a caretaker government for not doing more and for not suspending Europe's Schengen "open border" rules. The three-time former prime minister said controls were needed all along Slovakia's border with Hungary. "One of the first decisions of the government must be an order renewing border controls with Hungary," Fico told a news conference.

Persons: Robert Fico, Eva Kornikova, Fico, Viktor Orban, Jan Lopatka, Jason Hovet, Michael Kahn 私 Organizations: REUTERS, Rights Locations: Bratislava, Slovakia, Rights BRATISLAVA, Hungary, Germany, Europe, East, Afghanistan, Serbia

Decision-making is key because the EU now requires unanimity on foreign and security policy, taxes, EU finances, some areas of justice and home affairs and social security and protection. EU agriculture policy would need to be revamped because the admission of agriculture powerhouse Ukraine would dramatically change current EU direct payments to farmers. A similarly major change would happen to the EU's regional policy, under which poorer EU members receive money to raise their standard of living. The agriculture and regional funds make up two thirds of the EU budget, which totals roughly 1% of the bloc's gross national income a year. The paper, which polarised EU governments when first discussed on Sept. 19, said some countries in the EU should be allowed to form closer cooperation than others, forming four tiers of European integration.

Persons: Laurence Boone, Anna Luhrmann, Tiago Antunes, Jan Strupczewski Organizations: Union, EU, Guiding, Franco, Political, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Spanish, Murcia, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Kosovo, EU, France

☆ Need a Visa to Go to Europe? Get in (a Very Long) Line.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Christine Chung | More About Christine Chung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For most travelers from the United States, going to Europe is a relatively smooth experience, without the need to apply for visas or pay steep fees for short visits. These appointments, usually outsourced to for-profit companies, have been scarce in recent months. Applicants have failed to receive visas in time for their trips, or receive visas for the full duration of their travel. Ms. Yildirim, an assistant professor, said that she had applied for at least 10 Schengen visas in recent years. There are no visa centers in her area, forcing her to travel to other states for hard-to-find appointments.

Persons: Yildirim, it’s Organizations: Turkish, Travelers Locations: United States, Europe, Knoxville, Tenn, Europe’s, Turkey, India, South Africa, China

CNN —Germany announced Wednesday that it is ramping up its border controls with neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic to “limit human trafficking,” as the country faces fierce debate on its migration policy while asylum applications surge. Police will carry out “additional flexible checks and mobile controls along the smuggling routes at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the press. The announcement came as the interior minister raised the possibility of implementing fixed controls along the borders with its two eastern neighbors this week. Until now, the southern state of Bavaria on the Austrian border was the only part of Germany with stationary border controls, a legacy of the 2015-2016 migration crisis when Europe’s leading economy took in over a million refugees. “We are fighting to keep internal border controls open within the European Union.

Persons: CNN —, Nancy Faeser, Lisi Niesner, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s, Faeser, Italy –, Berlin’s, ” Alexander Handschuh, Handschuh, Angela Merkel’s Organizations: CNN, Police, ”, Immigration, Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, European Union, Office, Migration, Refugees, German Federal Police, German Association of Towns Locations: Poland, Czech Republic, Czech, Bavaria, Austrian, Germany, Polish, Forst, Hesse, Italy, Berlin, –, Brussels, “, Ukraine, Municipalities

☆ Germany's Scholz Asks Poland to Clarify Cash-For-Visas Affair
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday called on the Polish government to clarify allegations about a cash-for-visas deal for migrants that has roiled Polish politics, as a debate about immigration heats up in Germany. Arrivals to Poland could easily cross into other European Union countries given that borders are open. "The visa scandal that is taking place in Poland needs to be clarified," Scholz said on Saturday at an event. Scholz hinted that Germany could take steps to control the border with Poland. In recent years, Germany has already coped with floods of migrants and asylum seekers from Syria and Ukraine.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Scholz, Nancy Faeser, Zbigniew Rau, Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, Andreas Rinke, Tom Sims, Clelia Oziel Organizations: BERLIN, Union, Polish, Home Affairs, EU Locations: Polish, Germany, Poland, Syria, Ukraine

☆ Germany's Scholz asks Poland to clarify cash-for-visas affair
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses a ministerial level meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the crisis in Ukraine at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 20, 2023. Arrivals to Poland could easily cross into other European Union countries given that borders are open. "The visa scandal that is taking place in Poland needs to be clarified," Scholz said on Saturday at an event. Scholz hinted that Germany could take steps to control the border with Poland. In recent years, Germany has already coped with floods of migrants and asylum seekers from Syria and Ukraine.

Persons: Germany's, Olaf Scholz, Brendan McDermid, Scholz, Nancy Faeser, Zbigniew Rau, Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, Andreas Rinke, Tom Sims, Clelia Organizations: United Nations Security Council, REUTERS, Rights, Union, Polish, Home Affairs, EU, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, U.N, New York, Polish, Germany, Poland, Syria

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is considering establishing short-term border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic to keep irregular migrants from entering the country, a government official said Friday. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that setting up temporary police checks on border crossings would help Germany prevent the smuggling and trafficking of people. She added that the increased border checks would need to be combined with the already ongoing random police checks that are being carried out. Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic belong to the European Union's visa-free zone, commonly known as the Schengen Area. Political Cartoons View All 1176 ImagesFaeser is also discussing with the Czech Republic the possibility of German police officers operating on Czech territory, similar to an agreement that Germany has struck with Switzerland.

Persons: Nancy Faeser, Faeser Organizations: BERLIN, —, Welt, German Interior Ministry, Swiss, EU Locations: — Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Schengen, Czech, Switzerland, “, Turkey, Russian, Ukraine

☆ Slovakia Struggles With Surge in Illegal Migrants as Election Looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

"They don't want to live or work here, they are in transit, they rush through as they can," said Jozsef Barta, 70. Although he knew of no criminal incidents involving the migrants, he added: "People are scared to walk in the street." The number of illegal migrants detained in Slovakia has increased ninefold from a year ago to more than 27,000 so far this year, the country's interior ministry said. Hungarian police data also showed a jump in illegal migrant crossings on Hungary's southern border with Serbia in the past weeks, from where they head for Slovakia or Austria. Slovak police patrols are helping their Hungarian colleagues to catch the smugglers but that has proven little deterrent.

Persons: Jozsef Barta, Renata Gregusova, Robert Fico, Fico, Marian Cehelnik, Viktor Orban, Krisztina, Jason Hovet, Jan Lopatka, Gareth Jones Organizations: European Union, Europe's, Police, Reuters, EU Locations: CHLABA, Slovakia, IPOLYDAMASD, Hungary, Chlaba, Germany, Hungarian, Slovak, Europe, Czech Republic, East, Afghanistan, Serbia, Austria, EU, Prague

☆ Seven Charged in Polish Visa Irregularity Probe - Prosecutor
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

WARSAW (Reuters) - Seven people have been charged over alleged irregularities in the granting of Polish work visas, a prosecutor said on Wednesday, amid a deepening scandal on the hot-button subject of migration ahead of Oct. 15 elections. On Wednesday opposition lawmakers said knowledge about the irregularities was widespread in government, stretching as far as Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau. The opposition has said the irregularities could concern hundreds of thousands of visa applications, but prosecutors have said that their investigation concerns several hundred. Deputy coordinator of special services Stanislaw Zaryn said that none of the visa applicants concerned by the investigation posed a security threat to Poland. According to Eurostat data cited by Rzeczpospolita daily on Wednesday, Poland issued almost 2 million work visas over the past three years, including 600,000 in 2020, more than a quarter of the EU total that year.

Persons: Daniel Lerman, Piotr Wawrzyk, Wawrzyk, Lerman, Zbigniew Rau, PiS, Rafal Bochenek, Stanislaw Zaryn, Alan Charlish, William Maclean Organizations: Law and Justice, Department for, National Prosecutor's, Corruption Bureau, Union, Rzeczpospolita, EU Locations: WARSAW, Poland

Long wait times for visa applications are keeping people in China from traveling internationally as much as they'd like to, Jane Sun, CEO of travel booking site Trip.com , told CNBC's Eunice Yoon. For example, applications for a Schengen visa take two to six months, Sun said, "which is too long." She claimed demand for international travel from China has "far exceeded" the 2019 level, before the pandemic. Demand for domestic travel has exceeded the 2019 level by 60%, she said. As of August, the U.S. only allowed 12 round-trip passenger flights a week from China to the U.S. That was slated to increase to 18 a week starting Sept. 1, and 24 a week starting Oct. 29.

Persons: Long, Jane Sun, CNBC's Eunice Yoon, Sun Organizations: U.S Locations: China, U.S

☆ The E.U.’s New ETIAS Entry Requirement Is Coming. Someday.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Christine Chung | More About Christine Chung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But a new entry requirement called the European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, is set to go into effect next year. First, ETIAS is not a visa, and it doesn’t guarantee entry. It’s a travel authorization to enter 30 European countries, including the 27-country Schengen Area, as well as Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus. The authorization is valid for three years or until the expiration of the traveler’s passport, whichever comes sooner. It grants a traveler entry to participating countries for up to 90 days in a 180-day period.

Organizations: European Union, Travel Locations: Europe, United States, Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus

ANNECY, France, June 9 (Reuters) - Two toddlers gravely wounded by a knifeman in the French mountain town of Annecy were in a stable condition on Friday and doctors are optimistic for their recovery, President Emmanuel Macron said. Macron, who has called the attack an "act of absolute cowardice", visited the hospital in Grenoble where three of the four children are being treated before heading to nearby Annecy. "The doctors are very confident," Macron told the police and paramedics who responded to the aftermath of the attack. Among the children wounded in the attack were a British national and a Dutch national. One of the two pensioners caught up in the attack told Reuters he had been sitting on a park bench when the attacker approached on the run.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Macron, lunge, Henri, Denis Balibouse, Mag Capone, Mathis, Elisabeth Borne, Gerald Darmanin, Youssouf, Antony Paone, Geert de Clercq, Richard Lough, Andrew Heavens, Nick Macfie, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Annecy Cathedral, Annecy Prosecutor, Police, Thomson Locations: ANNECY, France, Annecy, Grenoble, British, French, Sweden, Swedish, Schengen, Italy, Paris

Two of the children were in a critical but stable condition in hospital a day after the attack, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said. Among the children wounded in the attack where a British national and a Dutch national. France hailed the bravery of a young Catholic pilgrim who came face-to-face with the assailant and used his backpack as a shield as he sought to block the attack. A mass will be held in Annecy Cathedral in tribute to the victims and their families later on Friday, church authorities said. One of the two pensioners caught up in the attack told Reuters he had been sitting on a park bench when the attacker approached on the run.

Persons: Denis Balibouse, Elisabeth Borne, Emmanuel Macron, lunge, Henri, Mag Capone, Borne, Youssouf, Antony Paone, Geert de Clercq, Richard Lough, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Denis Balibouse Annecy, British, Reuters, Annecy Cathedral, Police, Thomson Locations: Annecy, French, France, Grenoble, Sweden, Swedish, Schengen, Italy, Paris

It’s easy to fall for Split, Croatia’s largest seaside city, which sprouted from a palace built for the Roman emperor Diocletian 17 centuries ago. Still, travelers to Split soon discover that the unofficial capital of Dalmatia, as the country’s southern coast is known, is no museum piece trapped under glass. Equal parts chic Adriatic beach town, active archeological site and proud, gritty port city, Split is fueled by long seafood lunches, ancient traditions and wine-filled evenings. “We’re great hosts,” said Ivica Puljak, the physicist-turned-mayor of Split, in an interview. “But our priority is that Split remains a living center for our citizens.”

Persons: Diocletian, “, ”, Ivica Puljak Locations: Split, Dalmatia

☆ Western Balkans states discuss how to improve migration governance
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JAHORINA MOUNTAIN, Bosnia June 8 (Reuters) - Security and migration officials from six Western Balkans countries, all of which aspire to join the European Union, on Thursday pledged to work together with the EU and United Nations agencies to improve sustainable migration governance. "When it comes to the migrant crisis, we from the Western Balkans face not only humanitarian challenges but also security and political challenges," said Bosnia's Security Minister Nenad Nesic, who hosted the meeting at a mountain resort near the capital Sarajevo. "Trends in migration are very dynamic and the Western Balkans is a major transitory route," Ugochi Florence Daniels, the IOM Deputy Director General for Operations, told Reuters. "The action plan is an opportunity to deal with the immediate issues - trafficking and smuggling and sustainable returns," Daniels said. "It is also an opportunity to look at the longer-term opportunities that migration is bringing - remittances to the Western Balkans are $10 billion or 10% of GDP - that is a significant contribution to development," she added.

Persons: Nenad Nesic, Oliver Spasovski, Ugochi Florence Daniels, Daniels, Daria Sito, Angus MacSwan Organizations: European Union, EU, United Nations, Bosnia's, International Organisation for Migration, Operations, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bosnia, Balkans, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, East, Afghanistan, Asia, Africa, Sarajevo, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia's

☆ Americans flocked to Portugal for cheaper, more peaceful lives, but newcomers also brought crowds and drove up the cost of living
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Americans have been moving to Portugal for years, and the pandemic accelerated the trend further. The Bagbys are part of a wave of Americans who have moved to Portugal, a country roughly the size of Indiana. "It's a very reasonable cost of living," Zaretsky told Insider. Zaretsky paid 600,000 euros for the house in Portugal after selling her Austin, Texas, home for $676,000. Portugal has a strong tourism economy, and its shoulder season draws large crowds, making the petite coastal country feel tight.

Most Western embassies in Sudan were evacuated a week into the fighting, leaving many Sudanese visa applicants without their travel documents and in legal limbo. Several Sudanese citizens told CNN they cannot flee the conflict-ridden country because their passports are held at evacuated Western embassies. These are passports of Sudanese passport holders who have applied for a short-stay Schengen visa or an MVV (provisional residence permit). But unfortunately the ICRC cannot issue emergency travel documents for people to leave their own country,” they told CNN in a statement. Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters“I am now an obstacle for my family since they cannot travel and leave me,” she told CNN.

☆ Vitalia Diatchenko: Poland's state-owned airline refuses boarding to Russian tennis player
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Sammy Mncwabe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Poland’s state-owned airline LOT refused to board Russian tennis player Vitalia Diatchenko in line with restrictions introduced following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the carrier said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday without naming her. Diatchenko was denied boarding a LOT flight departing from Cairo on Monday as she was traveling to Calvi in Corsica via Warsaw and Nice to play at a tournament. “The provisions of the regulation introduce restrictions at certain border crossings, including airport crossings, in relation to citizens of the Russian Federation traveling from outside the Schengen area,” the airline said. IOC president Thomas Bach defended the latest recommendations citing tennis as an example that participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes “works” despite the war. Bach also blasted some European governments as “deplorable” for what he calls their “negative reactions” to the organization’s stance on Russia

☆ Tennis Polish airline says it refused boarding to Russian tennis player
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Tennis player Vitalia Diatchenko said on Monday she was refused boarding to a LOT flight in Cairo, with German airline Lufthansa then also refusing to sell her a ticket. The European Union has banned all flights from Russia and has agreed to limit issuing free-travel Schengen zone visas. In September, Finland joined the Baltic states and Poland in closing its borders to Russian tourists. Unlike many other sports, tennis did not introduce a blanket ban on players from Russia and its ally Belarus after the invasion of Ukraine. Russian and Belarusian players have been competing on the tours and at the other Grand Slams as neutral athletes.

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