The government took this decision as a large number of Russian tourists use Finland and Helsinki airport to transfer to tourist destinations in Europe.
THE Finland will reduce from the September 1st by 90% the number of entry permits it grants to Russians, Foreign Minister Peka Haavisto announced today as the number of Russian tourists entering the EU through the country’s territory increases.
THE Haavisto explained that the Finnish government took this decision as a large number of Russian tourists use Finland and Helsinki airport to transfer to tourist destinations in Europe, after Moscow lifted travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
“And this is probably not correct if we think about, for example, the restrictions that have been imposed on Russia regarding the use of airspace,” the Finnish minister pointed out.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many Western countries, including Finland, closed their airspace to Russian aircraft, making it difficult for Russians to travel to Europe.
Finland and the Baltic countries will jointly propose that the EU cancel the agreement it has with the Russian Federation, which had made it easy to obtain visas for Russians wishing to travel to the EU, Haavisot noted.
Some European leaders, such as Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her Estonian counterpart Kaia Kalas, have called for an end to Russians being granted EU entry permits. disagree with the regime should be able to leave their country.
Finland is considering creating a humanitarian visa, which could be given to Russians forced to leave their country or those who need to visit Europe for journalistic missions or activism, Haavisto added.
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