Finland to further tighten entry restrictions for Russians

Finland plans to further tighten entry restrictions for Russian nationals, according to the government.

It said that the President and Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy (TP-UTVA) concluded on June 27 that "travel by Russian citizens may still be harmful to Finland’s international relations," Yle reports.

The committee decided that current restrictions of non-essential travel should continue and also be tightened "to prevent breaches".

As a response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Finland began significantly limiting the issuing of visas to Russian citizens last September.

There are no specific policies in place regarding the tightening of entry rules, according to the foreign affairs ministry's director general of consular services, Jussi Tanner.

But he said there are plans to more carefully scrutinise the entry of Russian nationals who own property in Finland. Current restrictions allow for the entry of Russians who own property in Finland to carry out necessary maintenance work.

"The plans are that in future, property owners would have to show that maintenance work on their property actually requires the owner's presence," Tanner explained.

More restrictions planned

There are also plans to decrease the number of visas issued to Russians seeking to take school entrance exams, limiting them to those applying to degree programmes.

Third, there are plans to limit the entry of Russians on business trips. Tanner said the details are still not final, but a decision may be made to permit only those travellers who are specifically headed to Finland.

A final decision on the tightening of entry restrictions is subject to government approval.

"Based on the discussions held by the President and the Ministerial Committee, the Government may renew the resolution on travel restrictions issued on 29 September 2022," the government release stated.

According to Tanner, the plans to tighten restrictions were not related to the brief coup attempt by the Wagner Group in Russia over the weekend.

"The policy would have come in any case. However, the situation in Russia has been closely monitored and further developments will continue to be monitored," Tanner said.

Other foreign policy aspects discussed

During the same meeting on Tuesday, the TP-UTVA committee also discussed preparations for the upcoming Nato Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on 11-12 July.

The committee also received an overview on negotiations surrounding a defence cooperation agreement between Finland and the US, as well as an update about Finland taking part in international crisis management.