France and Italy Push Back Against EU Ban on Russian Servicemen

France and Italy have pushed back against an EU proposal to ban Russian servicemen and veterans from entering the bloc, warning that the measure is legally unclear and difficult to enforce, Bloomberg has reported, citing diplomatic sources.

Moscow has denounced the proposal as “paranoid,” while critics inside the EU reportedly fear it could morph into a broader entry ban on Russian citizens and affect more than 1.3 million people, including conscripts that did not participate in the conflict.

The restriction is being discussed as part of the EU’s proposed 21st sanctions package over the Ukraine conflict. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the bloc should bar Russians who have served in the military since February 2022, framing it as a security issue.

Paris and Rome, however, have argued that the current wording is too broad and that the measure should be handled through visa policy rather than sanctions, according to Bloomberg’s anonymous sources.

The two countries have questioned how the ban would work in practice, since national authorities would have to somehow determine whether individual Russian applicants had served in the military or taken part in the fighting in Ukraine.

France and Italy process some of the highest numbers of Russian arrivals in the EU. Euronews reported that France recorded just under 180,000 arrivals from Russia in 2025, while Italy had around 160,000.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has claimed that Brussels has intelligence on all Russians who have participated in the conflict and could blacklist them by name. Asked earlier this month how the ban would be implemented, she said: “I am not an expert, but experts say it is possible.”

The dispute comes as the EU struggles to finalize another sanctions package targeting Russia’s energy, finance, trade, and shipping sectors. The package faces disagreements over the Russian oil price cap, restrictions on LNG-linked ‘shadow fleet’ vessels, fish imports, critical minerals, and third-country companies accused of helping Moscow obtain restricted goods.

Several EU governments have increasingly questioned whether more sanctions are practical or risk hurting member states more than Russia. Bulgaria recently warned Brussels against measures that are mostly symbolic or damaging to EU economies, while Slovakia and Hungary have repeatedly called for restoring dialogue with Moscow.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said the proposed travel ban shows that EU officials “do not know what else to invent.” She described the measure as “openly paranoid” and said the bloc’s sanctions policy is increasingly harming third countries as well as Europeans themselves.