Limits | Foreign Minister Haavisto: Restrictions on the entry of Russians into the country in the coming days – HS follows the briefing moment by moment

Finland is tightening the admission of Russians.

HS said on Thursday, based on the information he received, that Finland may tighten significantly entry of Russians to the country by appealing to the weakening of Finland’s international relations.

Foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (green) will hold a press conference on the matter at around 18:45. Haavisto is scheduled to report on measures to limit Russian passenger traffic to Finland.

On Friday, the issue was discussed, among other things, at the joint meeting of the president’s and the government’s ministerial committee on foreign and security policy (tp-utva).

Decision based on HS’s information on the internationality clause related to the provisions of the Schengen free travel area.

Based on that, the Schengen country can prevent a third-country national from entering the country because the entry causes international harm to the receiving country.

That disadvantage could be, for example, that other countries disapprove of the current way in which Finland allows citizens of Russia, which considers Western countries to be its enemy, to pass through its border to other Schengen areas.

Protection police (Supo) vision according to the motion launch does not significantly change security threat related to the travel of Russians. Supo does not comment on whether the security assessment regarding the Russians is to be updated and, if so, when.

However, according to Supo’s message to HS, it is not opposed to stopping issuing tourist visas. The point of view is that tightening the entry of Russians based on the Schengen regulations would not require a statement from the security authorities.

The government has long assured that it would like to restrict the entry of Russians to Finland, but the border has only remained open.

Prime minister Sanna Marin (sd) said on Thursday that the government has a clear will to stop Russian tourists coming to Finland.

On Wednesday, Russia announced a partial implementation of the move. President of Russia Vladimir Putin said in a speech on Wednesday morning that the Russians are not only fighting the Ukrainians, but are also fighting “the entire military apparatus of the collective West.”

Marin took this as a serious message.

Estonia and the other Baltic countries announced earlier in September that from Monday of this week they will no longer allow Russians to enter the country with tourist visas issued by any EU country. They justify this by saying that the Russians are a security threat.

Earlier The Finnish government has reduced the number of tourist visas granted to Russians to ten percent from before. The impact of this decision is not yet visible in the statistics, as visas are still being issued.

About 3,100 Russians arrived in Finland on Wednesday of last week, but yesterday the number had already risen to about 4,800. The reason is thought to be that some Russians are fleeing so that they don’t have to fight in Ukraine.

Read more: Supo is not opposed to ending the issuance of tourist visas, the security threat related to the travel of Russians has not changed significantly

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