Estonia stops issuing visas, residence permits for Russian students

FILE PHOTO: Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu attends a news conference, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Riga, Latvia May 15, 2020. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

(Reuters) - Estonia on Thursday announced it would no longer issue visas or residence permits for Russian citizens wanting to study in the small Baltic country, saying the invasion of Ukraine threatened national security.

The foreign ministry order also ends the practice of granting the right to short-term work to Russians or citizens of ally Belarus who had secured a visa from another European Union state. Estonia belongs to the 27-nation bloc.