Two Russian vacationers have been turned away from the Château de Vincennes close to Paris final month, following directions to ban Russians from getting into navy installations.
The incident generated debate on social media about whether or not Russian travellers must be banned from visiting museums in France.
Some Twitter customers argued it was truthful given the influence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on residents, whereas others described it as “scandalous discrimination”.
In keeping with AFP, one of many vacationers was a Russian feminine journalist who opposed the invasion. She claimed she was denied entry to the fortress “as a result of she is Russian”.
The controversy continues as EU international ministers meet in Prague to debate a possible ban on Russian vacationer visas.
The Château de Vincennes is one in all Europe’s best-preserved monuments and the fortress is for essentially the most half open to the general public. The positioning additionally homes a part of the French armed forces’ historic archives, to which entry is restricted.
In February – following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – France bolstered a strict rule that forestalls any Russian citizen from getting into navy amenities.
The French Armed Forces Ministry confirmed to Euronews that the 2 Russian vacationers have been refused entry to the fortress as a consequence of these new guidelines, and never a wider ban.
“It goes with out saying that [the security policy] can’t be utilized in the identical method for strategic buildings as for locations open to the general public similar to museums or cultural websites,” a spokesperson of the Armed Forces Ministry mentioned.
The ministry says it has requested for the rule to be clarified to keep away from future incidents like this. Château de Vincennes – and different vacationer websites run by the military, together with the Air and Area Museum exterior of Paris – can even proceed permitting Russian vacationers in.
