Finland will prepare a “national solution” to limit or even prevent the passage of Russian tourists through its territory, its foreign minister announced on Wednesday.
The Nordic country already reduced the number of visas granted to Russians to one tenth in September in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but it is currently the only member of the European Union that borders Russia to allow entry. of Russian citizens with a Schengen visa. .
In this sense, the Finnish government “has decided to prepare a national solution to limit or completely prevent this transit of Russian tourists,” said Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.
The measures “may include new legislation, which will be adopted very quickly, or an interpretation of existing law,” he added.
“Finland does not want to be a transit country for Schengen visas issued by other countries. We intend to control this traffic,” the minister said.
Helsinki calls for a concerted European decision, but “you cannot be sure that it will happen quickly,” Haavisto stressed.
According to a survey published this Wednesday by the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper, around 70% of Finns want to end the issuance of tourist visas for Russian citizens.
Following Vladimir Putin’s announcement to mobilize hundreds of thousands of reservists to relaunch the Russian offensive in Ukraine, border traffic was “normal”, according to the Finnish border guard.
The situation “has not changed significantly,” the unit wrote on Twitter, debunking rumors circulating online about queues of several kilometers to enter the country.
Source: TSF
