Finland does not want to become the last remaining “transit country” for Russian tourists to enter Europe. The local Foreign Minister “expressed his disappointment” with the way the EU is solving the visa issue with the access of Russian tourists. Mr. Pekka Haavisto, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto announced that Finland is “urgently looking for a solution to limit the issuance of tourist visas to Russian citizens.”
First of all, according to him, Finland does not want to become a transit country for Russian tourists seeking to get to other European countries. Also, following the Baltics, he literally stated the following: “There are no moral or ethical grounds for allowing Russian tourism to continue as usual. We have often raised this issue in the EU”, assured Mr. Haavisto. Recall that the Baltic states and Poland have closed the entry for Russian tourists with any Schengen visa at the national level. The Finnish Foreign Minister hopes that this measure will be adopted in his country as well.
Mr Haavisto also noted that he is disappointed with the EU's decision on the visa issue and that it has proved difficult to impose restrictions on the Schengen system. According to him, Finland has significantly reduced the number of tourist visas issued to Russians, but not all countries have followed this example. Also, according to him, Finland turned to the European Commission with a request to issue a pan-European recommendation that would restrict the entry of Russian citizens to EU countries on tourist visas.
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