Latvia has urged the European Union to immediately suspend the issuance of visas to Russian citizens, in a bold move aimed at curbing what it describes as a Moscow-backed sabotage campaign sweeping across the continent.
The Baltic state’s call comes amid mounting evidence that Russia is waging a covert war on European soil, using cyberattacks, arson, and espionage to destabilise the EU and NATO. In recent months, multiple member states—including Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic—have reported incidents of suspected Russian sabotage, prompting a flurry of counterintelligence activity and high-level security alerts across European capitals.
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže did not mince words in a statement issued Monday: “It is unacceptable that agents of the Russian Federation may be using the privileges of visa-free movement to coordinate hostile activities within our borders. We must close this loophole before it is too late.”
Riga’s demand is the most forceful to date in a growing chorus of voices warning that the Kremlin’s so-called “hybrid warfare” has entered a dangerous new phase. While the West has focused its attention on Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, intelligence agencies now believe that Moscow has broadened its playbook to directly undermine the internal stability of European democracies.
In Poland, authorities recently thwarted an alleged Russian plot to derail trains carrying military aid to Ukraine. In Germany, two Russian nationals have been charged with planning sabotage attacks on American bases. And in Sweden, investigators have linked a spate of unexplained industrial fires to Russian operatives.
According to senior EU security officials, the Kremlin is employing a mix of old-school espionage and modern disinformation tactics to stir unrest, exploit social tensions, and erode trust in European institutions. “This is not about gathering intelligence,” said one Brussels-based diplomat. “It is about creating chaos.”
The strategy is hardly new. Russian hybrid tactics have been on display since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, when cyberattacks and psychological operations became part of Moscow’s geopolitical toolkit. But the scale and brazenness of the current campaign, analysts say, marks a dangerous escalation—and underscores the limits of Europe’s fragmented security response.
Latvia, along with its Baltic neighbours Lithuania and Estonia, has long warned of the Kremlin’s intentions and called for a harder line on Russian nationals within the EU. But until now, many Western European governments have resisted such measures, citing concerns over human rights and the risk of alienating Russian dissidents.
That calculation may be shifting. In light of the recent incidents, EU justice and home affairs ministers are set to hold an emergency meeting in Luxembourg later this week. Discussions will likely focus on tightening visa regimes, boosting intelligence sharing, and harmonising laws around the prosecution of foreign agents.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has declined to comment on the Latvian proposal directly, though insiders say the idea of a coordinated visa suspension is gaining traction—particularly among countries bordering Russia or housing large Russian expatriate communities.
Critics of the plan argue it risks punishing ordinary Russians, many of whom oppose Vladimir Putin’s regime and have fled to Europe seeking safety and asylum. Others, however, believe the line between civilian and operative has become dangerously blurred.
“Every tourist is a potential courier. Every student might be part of an influence network,” said a security adviser to a central European government. “This is not paranoia—it’s pattern recognition.”
Indeed, several recent court cases appear to confirm the presence of Russian “sleepers” embedded within European societies. In the Netherlands, a man posing as a Brazilian student was exposed as a GRU agent trying to infiltrate the International Criminal Court. In Italy, prosecutors are investigating a Russian-linked network accused of orchestrating arson attacks on logistics facilities supporting Ukraine.
Such revelations have further strained relations between Moscow and Brussels, which remain in deep freeze following the imposition of sweeping sanctions and the EU’s military support for Kyiv. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in sabotage activities, dismissing the accusations as “Russophobic hysteria.”
But for nations like Latvia, which share a border with Russia and have lived under the shadow of Kremlin aggression for decades, the threat is all too real.
“This is not just a Baltic problem,” Minister Braže warned. “It is a European problem—and it demands a European response.”
Whether that response will include a full visa ban remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: Europe is waking up to the fact that the war may no longer be confined to the Donbas. The battlefield is moving west.
