The head of the consular service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Jussi Tanner, said that it would be illegal to ban the entry of citizens of one country, in this case, Russians.
Tanner made his announcement after Finland decided not to join the Baltic states and Poland in restricting the entry of Russian tourists to Schengen visas issued by other countries.
Responding to those who expected that Finland would also ban entry for tourists from Russia, Tanner said: that canceling visas for citizens of one nationality does not correspond to the rule of law.
“Why isn’t Finland preparing a visa ban for Russian citizens? Government agencies must always follow the law, and we do not think that a complete visa ban (or entry) for one nationality is compatible with the law,” Tanner wrote on the social network.
According to Tanner, the legislation means that each visa application and each person at the border must be evaluated based on the criteria established by law and on a case-by-case basis. This issue cannot be arbitrarily interpreted by the authorities.
Regarding the country’s security issues, Tanner said that Finland does not consider every Russian citizen to be a threat to public order and security.
“What about security? The Finnish authorities do not consider every Russian citizen to be a threat to our public order or security. Some people do bad things, but we successfully combat these threats with other tools. But not through joint bans at the border,” Tanner said in a statement.
At the same time, Finland has already limited the number of applications for tourist visas for Russians by ten percent, thereby emphasizing that tourism from Russia cannot continue as usual.
Earlier this month, the Baltic states and Poland announced that they had agreed to stop issuing Schengen visas to Russians and ban them from entering their territory from September 19. However, it was emphasized that this measure would be temporary.
Other countries are expected to tighten their rules for Russian citizens applying for Schengen visas, as the EU Council recently decided to terminate the visa facilitation agreement with Russia.
Russians applying for a Schengen visa will now have to pay a fee of 80 euros instead of the previous 35. They will also need additional documents and face longer processing times and stricter visa regulations.