EUROPEAN BUREAUCRACY IS FINALLY LEARNING TO COUNT TO FOUR MILLION

03/26/2026 Remigijus Simasius

"Destroyed Russian armed vehicle in Ukraine. Russian aggressors definitely want to the EU. Do we want them here?" Picture ©Ukrinform

Almost three years ago, when the Centenary Policy Institute first raised the idea that EU sanction lists should feature not a symbolic 2,000, but at least 4 million participants and supporters of the aggression, it was met with an arrogant smile in the corridors of Brussels. The System’s self-preservation instinct triggered instantly: the bureaucracy hid behind a shield of "human rights" and a smoke screen of "implementation complexity." Today, however, we see this rigid System being forced to shed its skin.

Our vision is turning from "radical theory" into a practical architecture of security.

Five Myths of Bureaucratic Resistance

For a long time, EU institutions used a standard blocking mechanism based on several flawed arguments:

1. Human Rights: It was claimed that a mass ban violates individual rights. This is a logical fallacy. Participation in a crime (aggression) inherently voids the privilege of enjoying proximity to the victim.

2. "Border Liars": Bureaucrats explained that Russians would simply lie. However, any state border control relies on data verification. A lie during the procedure must become a ticket to a permanently closed space. It becomes so in other areas. It can here as well.

3. Technical Impotence: It was argued that it is impossible to manage such flows. This is untrue - modern IT systems and visa registries are capable of processing millions of records, provided there is political will.

4. Fear of Collective Guilt: There was an avoidance of touching "ordinary people," even though it is those "ordinary people" doing and supporting horrific things who constitute the cogs of the aggression machine. Furthermore - it is precisely the inability to identify several million according to objective criteria that de facto restricts all 140 million, who, naturally, become de facto unwelcome in their entirety.

5. Strategic Blindness: It was thought that small sanctions are better than none, forgetting that impunity is the best fuel for the aggressor's engine.

   
   

Anatomy of the Border: From Declarations to Real Filters

Over the past year, the situation has changed fundamentally. What seemed impossible has become a daily reality:

• Physical Closure: From Poland to Finland, the Russian land border has effectively become an impassable wall for the aggressor’s citizens.

• The Values Test: Lithuania and other regional countries have introduced direct questions ("To whom does Crimea belong?"). This is not just a formality. It is a moral filter allowing for the identification of regime supporters before they enter EU territory.

• National Leadership Example: Estonia showed how this works in practice. At the beginning of 2026, it added over a thousand individuals directly involved in the aggression to its "blacklists." Lithuania also expanded national restrictions, ensuring that participation in the war carries a personal price. Of course, for now, these are still lists of individuals rather than objective criteria, even if names are unknown.

  
  

The Icebreaker in Brussels: The Eight-Country Letter

The most important breakthrough happened very recently - in March 2026. A group of countries - Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Poland, Sweden, Germany, and Romania - officially applied to the European Commission with a demand to introduce a Schengen-wide ban on all current and former Russian military personnel and participants in the aggression.

This is a direct return to the idea we raised. Although their proposed list is still narrower than our 4-million vision, the direction is correct. The System's memory is finally beginning to record not just the names of oligarchs, but also those who hold weapons, attend meetings of the aggression’s ideological party, write propaganda texts, or manufacture missiles that cause suffering to civilians.

4 Million is a Matter of Security, Not Emotions

Our proposal to expand the circle of sanctioned persons to 4 million and more is based on strict logic:

1. Precision: Instead of blindly punishing all 140 million Russians (among whom there are also victims of the regime), we propose surgical precision. Sanctions must hit those who actively contribute to the maintenance of the System.

2. Motivation to Cooperate: A "golden bridge" is left in our vision. The only way for a person on this list to enter Europe is a public statement of truth about the crimes and cooperation with EU institutions. This is a powerful tool to fracture the aggressor's society from within.

3. Security Guarantee: A potential 4 million people who participated in or supported the aggression inside the EU are 4 million potential tools for hybrid warfare. Their exclusion is not a punishment, but elementary hygiene.

   
   

Conclusion: Practice of Delivery

We were the authors of this idea, and today we can be glad that the European security architecture is finally beginning to match the blueprints drawn back then. This is no longer just a theory - it is the practice of delivery for justice and security. We will continue to move along this path until every participant in the aggression understands: the door to the free world opens only through truth and responsibility.

Read more about the original initiative here:

1. EU Borders Can Easily Be Closed to Russian Agents

2. At Least 4 Million, Not 2 Thousand Russian Citizens Should Face Travel Sanctions