MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. Any attempts by a number of countries to ban issuing visas to Russian citizens are a misanthropic ideology, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council (the upper house of Russia’s parliament) Konstantin Kosachev said on Monday.
"This is <..> a misanthropic ideology. Because in this case, they propose or implement measures that hit everyone, indiscriminately, all people without exception, regardless of their political beliefs, their practical actions, simply on the principle of citizenship, count, on the principle of nationality," the deputy speaker said during a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast.
In his opinion, the lines that separate this kind of ideology from neo-Nazism "are becoming more and more vague."
Earlier, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stated that she considered it necessary to ban the issuance of EU visas to Russian citizens travelling to the European Union. Later, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said that a proposal to that effect had been submitted for discussion in the EU. According to the official, Berlin has taken it into consideration, but does not yet intend to assess the possible results.