On September 29, the Government of Finland decided to significantly limit passenger transportation on the Russian-Finnish border. The decision will take effect on Friday, September 30.
This is reported by Yle.
Russian tourists will no longer be able to travel to Finland or through Finland to other countries.
"The restrictions will come into effect tomorrow, Friday, and will be in effect until further notice. The principled decision is aimed at completely preventing Russian tourism to Finland and related transit through Finland," Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto noted at a press conference.
The government justifies its decision by the fact that tourist trips by Russians across the Finnish border endanger international relations.
"The border authority takes this threat into account, and based on this, a person may be refused entry or a negative decision may be made regarding the visa application," said the head of the Finnish Foreign Ministry.
However, there is a list of about ten points, on the basis of which Russians will be able to enter Finland with a tourist visa — it will be possible to visit family or relatives, come for an entrance exam at a Finnish educational institution or for a job interview.
Minister of the Interior of Finland Krista Mikkonenstated that in each specific case the decision will be individual. During the review, the vulnerable position that the Russian may be in will be taken into account and will be guided by mandatory international legal norms.
According to Finnish government officials, the problem is that hundreds of thousands of previously issued visas are still valid.
The new provision can invalidate visas previously issued by Finland, but cannot invalidate documents issued by other Schengen countries. On the other hand, Finnish border guards may not allow a person to enter Finland if he has a visa issued by another country.
- On September 23, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto said that Finland prohibits the entry of Russian tourists, the government will announce this officially in the near future.
- And on September 27, it became known that the border service of Finland recommends building a fence on the border with Russia.