It said nearly 1 million Russian citizens entered the EU since that time, or more precisely a total of 998,085 Russian passport holders had entered since Feb. 24. 

This huge number for the half-year time frame comes as the debate rages in Europe over an EU-wide ban on Russian travel, with Bulgaria being the latest among a slowly expanding list of EU member states to say it won't support a complete ban, even if it has slowed visa issuances for Russians.

Germany has been among the most important EU nations to say such a travel ban would unfairly impact dissidents, or journalists and activists who are firmly on record as condemning Russia's war in Ukraine. Some officials and pundits have pointed out it smacks of xenophobia, unfairly targeting a single ethnicity or nationality. 

"What is important for us is that we understand there are a lot of people fleeing from Russia because they disagree with the Russian regime," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said earlier this month. "All the decisions we take should not make it more complicated to leave the country, for getting away from the leadership and the dictatorship in Russia."

But Finland's Sanna Marin, representing the pro-ban faction have said Russian tourists should pay a penalty for their government's actions. Ukraine's President's Zelensky has been lobbying various Western government to impose a full ban as the next step in anti-Moscow sanctions.