EU-Budapest relations are on edge as the Orbán government insists on issuing visas to Russian and Belarusian citizens in breach of the Schengen treaty.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Friday that a possible exclusion of Hungary from the Schengen Area would lead to in the exit of Budapest from the European Union.

“The exclusion from Schengen is the beginning of the exclusion from the European Union. I would be careful about excluding countries from the European Union,” Tusk told reporters after 67 members of the European Parliament urged a Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to take tougher measures against Hungary as it decided to relax visa requirements for Russian and Belarusian citizens.

Tusk mentioned that Hungary it is not the only EU country which grants visas to Russians and Belarusians. “It appears that the rules of European law have been violated. But Hungary is not the only country that grants visas to Belarusians and Russians,” he noted.

At a time when Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, the Czech Republic and Estonia are imposing restrictions on the entry of Russians, Budapest is opening the door for them to enter and reside freely in the EU. Western media are concerned that this could also allow to Russian spies to enter the EU.