HS Interview | Estonian Foreign Minister: The number of Russian tourists will certainly increase at the Finnish border after Monday

Russians the entry of tourists to the Baltic countries and Poland ends on Monday. The decision to prevent holders of short-term Schengen visas from traveling to the country is the responsibility of the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalun included for three reasons.

“The first reason is security concerns. We know that Russian agents have used fake IDs and carried out various activities in Europe using tourist visas,” Reinsalu says in a telephone interview.

He refers, among other things, to the poisoning attack in Britain in 2018, where Sergei and Yulia Skripal attempted murder. The Russian agents behind the assassination attempt had traveled to Salisbury on tourist visas.

According to Reinsalu, security concerns have also come up during his visit to Ukraine. Ukrainian officials told him that in February, the number of border crossings by Russian agents exploded.

Second according to Reinsalu, the reason is moral: Ukrainian refugees or workers in EU countries should not have to, for example, serve Russian tourists at their workplaces.

“I think this is a perverse situation,” he says, referring to a story told by his ministerial colleague, according to which Ukrainian refugees had been forced to serve rich Russians in a spa.

The third reason is targeting the effects of the sanctions. Reinsalu emphasizes that the sanctions must be felt comprehensively by the Russians. Russia’s war of aggression is not only Vladimir Putin war, but the war of the entire Russian state.

“Russian society must experience the consequences of the country waging a genocidal war on European soil.”

Estonia has registered hundreds of thousands of Russian border crossings since the start of the war. According to Reinsalu, the amounts are so large that it is not possible to take all the necessary safety measures.

“We cannot put our entire adult population as border guards on our eastern border.”

Baltic the countries and Poland have made their decisions in cooperation and coordination, but according to Reinsalu, the decisions have nevertheless been made nationally.

“I think we made it clear at the Prague meeting that we expect a pan-European solution to the matter. But, if something like this is not coming, we said that we will make our own decisions”, he says, referring to the meeting of foreign ministers of EU countries organized in Prague.

Other EU countries told Reinsalu that they understand the restriction decisions and the reasons behind them.

The decision of Estonia and other countries will have an impact on Reinsalu also on the northern side of the Gulf of Finland.

“Without a doubt, we will see more Russians crossing the border at the Finnish border. It’s about natural logic when the Baltic and Polish borders are closed. People are looking for other ways to cross the land border.”

Finland’s border will be the EU’s only anti-Russian external border open to tourist visas after Monday’s decision comes into effect.

Estonians according to Reinsalu, discussed closely with the Finnish authorities in the times before the restriction decision. However, Finland has not decided to restrict border crossings by Russians.

According to Reinsalu, the Estonian security authorities advised that the restrictions be introduced. Minister of Foreign Affairs in Finland Pekka Haavisto (Vihr) told HS on Wednesday that according to the Finnish security authorities, not every Russian has been seen as a security threat.

Read more: Foreign Minister Haavisto considers it possible that the EU will completely ban tourist visas for Russians – “We are ready for stricter measures”

“Frankly, I would welcome it [Suomen rajoituspäätöksen]. But of course the decision is completely in the hands of the Finns,” says Reinsalu.

He says that he understands Finland’s reasoning as to why it is not possible to deny Russian tourists access here, as in the Baltics and Poland. However, all relevant laws and regulations have been complied with in Estonia. In addition, before imposing the restrictions, Estonia informed the EU Commission about its intentions.

“In this context, I don’t see any legal restrictions on our decision.”

Reinsalu emphasizes that the best option would be a pan-European decision. This is not in sight, at least in the near future.

“Unless there are any radical changes of direction in the context of the war, for example changes in citizens’ opinions due to the atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine, I do not expect a pan-European ban or drastic restrictions on the entry of Russians into the EU.”

Estonia struggling with rampant inflation. This is why Reinsalu is happy to welcome the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen actions presented this week. The purpose is to curb the rise in energy prices and support member countries.

In his speech, Von der Leyen proposed cutting electricity consumption at times of peak consumption, limiting the profits of energy companies and taxing the profits of oil, gas and coal companies that rely on fossil energy.

Read more: The President of the Commission outlined the future energy measures in his speech opening the EU’s autumn: The profits of energy companies will be cut

However, the gas price ceiling, which was public before the speech, is not on von der Leyen’s agenda. The reason is that it did not receive support from the ministers. However, the idea has not been abandoned, but requires further action.

“Estonia supports setting price ceilings for both gas and electricity. Not only with regard to the gas used for energy production, but also with regard to all imported gas,” says Reinsalu.