Elon Musk has a new reason to exit Twitter deal

Elon Musk. Pic/AP

Germany and France warned on Tuesday against a European Union ban on tourist visas for Russians, saying it would be counter-productive, highlighting divisions within the 27-nation bloc as foreign ministers prepared to discuss the measure.

Eastern and Nordic countries strongly back such a ban, saying travel to the EU is a privilege, not a right, and that allowing Russians to party on European beaches at a time when their country has invaded Ukraine is unacceptable. The Kremlin slammed the proposed ban as "irrational," while Paris and Berlin argued that, six months into the war, the EU should avoid penalising ordinary Russians who might oppose their government's actions and harbour pro-Western sympathies.

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"We caution against far-reaching restrictions on our visa policy, in order to prevent feeding the Russian narrative and trigger unintended rallying-around the flag effects and/or estranging future generations," France and Germany said in a joint memo seen by Reuters. One EU diplomat said divisions on the issue meant an agreement at the two-day meeting of ministers in Prague was unlikely.

Billionaire Elon Musk has spent months alleging that the company he agreed to acquire undercounted its fake and spam accounts, which means he doesn't have to go through with the $ 44 billion deal.

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