Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute Kristi Raik was indignant at Helsinki’s refusal to introduce a complete ban on issuing visas to Russians and ran into a sharp response from the head of the consular service of the Finnish Foreign Ministry, Jussi Tanner.
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The political scientist tweeted that she was at a loss because of such a decision and did not consider the laws of the republic to be convincing. Raik recalled the coronavirus restrictions that affected everyone without exception in Finland.
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“It was not easy for the EU and the Schengen area, but such regulations were approved because of a serious threat,” she added.
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In response to the claims of the Estonian expert, the head of the consular service of the Finnish Foreign Ministry, Jussi Tanner, said that the authorities did not intend to violate the laws. The diplomat explained that each visa application is considered separately and according to established criteria.
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“You can’t use power arbitrarily,” Tanner said.
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He added that Helsinki does not consider every Russian a security threat, and explained the difference between the current situation and the coronavirus pandemic.
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The Council of the EU on Friday finally approved the decision taken earlier on the complete suspension of the simplified visa regime with Russia, it comes into force on September 12. After the start of the decision, the general rules for issuing visas will apply to Russian citizens: their cost will be 80 euros, additional documents will be required, and the time for processing the request will increase. Earlier, the Baltic countries and Poland announced a ban on the entry of Russians from September 19. Finland did not join such measures, however, it greatly reduced the number of tourist visas issued.
