The European Union should stop issuing tourist visas to Russians

After scaling a mountain on a humid summer day, my cousins and I reached the top of St John Fortress in Kotor. We took a moment to enjoy the view from the summit, nearly 300 metres above the Montenegrin coastal town.

After catching our breath, we reached into our bag and pulled out a Ukrainian flag. A customary tradition, we always take a photo with it during our annual trips.

We took a second to pose with our flag at the fortress and requested a neighbouring tourist to take our picture. 

But this encounter was different. As we stood for a photo, another group of tourists gave us unpleasant looks.

“Ukrainians,” one of them snarled in Russian, eyes cold with contempt.

We quickly finished taking our photo, packed our flag, and descended down the fortress. As our group continued on our walk, the discomfort among us became palpable as we came across additional Russian tourists who gave us similar stares.

Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. Following this encounter in Montenegro, I experienced similar events while in Cyprus and Greece. 

During my visits, Russian tourists did not shy away from glaring at me or making judgmental comments about my being Ukrainian.

This is Russia today. Over the past 19 months, many have mislabeled the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “Putin’s war,” blaming the current circumstances on the Russian president.

But the hatred toward Ukrainians goes far beyond Vladimir Putin. According to recent polling data, most Russians support their country’s aggression against Ukraine. 

Survey participants also stated that they want the war to continue. These are not opinions or expressions of a freedom-loving people.

Some might argue that Russian citizens are heavily influenced by Russian propaganda. After