HELSINKI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2022) Finland will not completely ban Russians with tourist visas from entering the country, Director General of Consular Services at Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs Jussi Tanner said on Monday.
"In Finland, there will be no complete ban like in the Baltic states or Poland. But surely a unified approach of the EU, which Finland seeks, would be the best and most effective," Tanner was quoted by YLE broadcasting company as saying, adding that a complete visa ban is a measure for which no legal basis could be found.
On September 6, the EU adopted a proposal to fully suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Moscow. The suspension has entered into effect on September 12.
According to Tanner, the suspension would lead to the increase of a visa fee from 35 Euros ($35) to 80 euros ($80), as well as to a longer issuance procedure, which would now take at least 15 days instead of 10 days.
On September 1, Helsinki cut the number of tourist visas issued to Russian citizens in response to the special military operation in Ukraine. Starting September 1, Finland issues up to 100 visas per week. However, the country's officials have repeatedly said they would follow common EU measures, as regards to sanctions against Russia.
Last week, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania made a decision to deny entry to Russians even with valid Schengen visas. The decision will come into force on September 19. Due to this measure, Finland expects more Russians to come to the EU through Finland.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would respond to EU visa restrictions for Russians, not harming Russia's interests.
