Foreign Minister tells Euronews: Finland intends to limit visas for Russian tourists
Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told Euronews the government has approved plans to start limiting the number of visas they issue to Russians.
The Finnish government has come under increased public and political pressure in the last ten days to close a perceived sanctions 'loophole' which allows tens of thousands of Russians to come to the EU via car or bus through Finnish border crossings - even though Russians are banned by sanctions from flying or taking the train to the European Union.
Haavisto says ministers gave the green light Thursday to a scheme that would restrict the number of appointments available to Russians at Finnish diplomatic missions in Russia, which has the effect of reducing the number of visas ultimately issued.
It's a short-term bureaucratic fix to a problem the Finns hope the EU will solve for them at the next foreign ministers meeting in the Czech Republic at the end of August.
"We are certainly not the only country that has a problem with this issue," said Haavisto.
"And if we reduce the amount of Schengen visas we issue, we should have a more coordinated EU approach," he added.
The Finns have 12 different categories of visas they can issue - including for students, workers, family members and tourism - and Haavisto said the most simple and legal way they can reduce the numbers of tourist visas is to "prioritise the time slots for other types of visas and give a bit less numbers to tourism visas."
At a more grassroots level, Finns have been showing their distaste at the flow of Russian tourists coming over the border since the middle of July, when Moscow dropped the last remaining COVID-related border restrictions.
A political youth group paid for a huge billboard next to the border
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