Bureaucracy is a bitch, unfortunately. Sometimes it’s much better, according to immigration “experts” (people who analyze asylum cases and help with all the docs), to arrive as a tourist and try to find a time slot to present the case.

Just recently a man crossed the border from Kaliningrad to get asylum in Lietuva (not the best option but it was the closest). He got denied and now he’s facing jail time in Russia for his social media posts.

If you have a RIGHT to apply it doesn’t mean you’re gonna get approved. There are some anecdotes for denying Russians asking for asylum (or another type of visa, I don’t recall exactly) for having a criminal record in Russia for the exact thing they were trying to run away from (it’s usually donations or social media posts “discrediting” russian army)!

I’m sorry but you are very naive.

Very useful, ask any LGBT refugee from Russia or Belarus in Spain, Germany, Netherlands or almost any other EU country.

YEAH! Fuck everyone! Fuck every person born in a wrong place! Or in a wrong family! Or with a “wrong” sexuality/gender/race!

Thank you for thinking a bit more than a regular reactionist. This ban will hardly help with EU’s “defense”, and it’s certainly not going to make an ordinary Russian angrier at their government because it’s too fucking expensive to go to EU anyway.

Yeah, some middle-class moskali will cry about it a bit, but above everything else it will make leaving Russia for people in danger more difficult. But yeah, it’s gonna give an illusion that EU finally does something decisive for Ukraine (cough-cough, >4.5 years of the invasion).

That’s where “kinda” is about, to be honest. Especially it’s hard to tell if it even works (if the point is really to help people). I agree, freedom of movement and participation in society must not be gated in any way.

I’ve seen more people from lower income trying out gambling to get out of poverty (or in hopes to have something to eat for the week). So it kinda makes sense in this situation, maybe?