Finland does not plan to cancel Schengen visas that have already been issued to Russians, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2022) Finland does not plan to cancel Schengen visas that have already been issued to Russians, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Wednesday.
"Yesterday the Finnish government discussed the visa issue and we decided that in the coming months we reduce the issue of tourist visas to 10% for Russian citizens... We are not touching the old visas that we have, the visas are still valid. When you enter the Schengen area there of course is no border control... This is done to increase the pressure so that there would be a more common European policy. This topic will be discussed in the coming EU meeting in August in the Czech Republic," Haavisto said at a joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart Urmas Reinsalu in Helsinki.
The Finnish foreign ministry said in a statement earlier in the day that the country is cutting in half the number of visa application appointments available in Russians to 500 a day. Additionally, Finland is introducing quotas for applications: 20% for tourism and 80% for people traveling for reasons other than tourism.
"Coalition partners agreed not to renew temporary residence permits for the Russian citizens and to restrict entry with Schengen visas in Latvia. Working on new regulation with the Ministry of the Interior," Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said in a tweet.
Karins told the Latvian television broadcaster that the authorities are looking into changing the legislation of issuing temporary residence permits for Russian citizens. Currently they are automatically renewed apart from cases when that is not possible. Latvian authorities want to change this rule and permit their renewal only in extraordinary cases.
Other EU countries, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland and the Netherlands, have also limited the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens.
