Finland will slash number of visas issued to Russians from next month

HELSINKI • Finland will reduce the number of visas issued to Russians from Sept 1, the Finnish Foreign Ministry has said in a statement, amid a rush of Russian tourists bound for Europe.

Finnish land border crossings have remained among the few entry points into Europe for Russians after a string of Western countries closed their airspace to Russian planes in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine.

The Finnish government agreed on Tuesday to curtail their numbers, after Russian tourists begun using Finland's Helsinki-Vantaa airport as a gateway to European holiday destinations following Russia's lifting of pandemic-related border restrictions a month ago.

"And this maybe is not very appropriate if we, for example, think of the airspace restrictions put in place for Russia," Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters after government talks.

Finland would cut daily visa application appointments in Russia from 1,000 to 500 per day, with just 100 allocated to tourists, the ministry said.

The number of visas granted was already much lower than before the pandemic and the war.

In July, Finland granted just 16,000 visas to Russians, compared with 92,100 during the same month in 2019, Foreign Ministry statistics showed.

Finland and the Baltic states would also propose that the European Union (EU) discontinues a visa facilitation agreement with Russia.

It makes it easier for Russians to travel to and within the European Union, Mr Haavisto said.

Some EU leaders, such as Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas, have called for an EU-wide visa ban, which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz contested on Monday, saying Russians should be able to flee their home country if they disagree with the government.

Estonia this week will close its border to more than 50,000 Russians with previously issued visas, the first country in the EU to do so, making it harder for ordinary Russians to enter the EU.

Finland was looking into creating a national humanitarian visa that could be granted to Russians who needed to flee or visit Europe for purposes such as journalism or advocacy, Mr Haavisto added.

The ban comes just four days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a fresh call for EU states to ban visas for Russian nationals to keep the bloc from becoming a "supermarket" open to anyone with the means to enter.

According to EU rules, a tourist must apply for a visa from the country they intend to visit, but can enter the border-check-free Schengen area from any point and travel around it for up to 90 days in a 180-day period.

REUTERS