The President of Finland refused to close the Russian consulate in Aland.

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö did not support the idea of ​​closing the Russian consulate on the demilitarized Åland Islands.

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The Russian side is aware of the so-called “civil initiative” in Finland to close the Russian consulate on the Aland Islands, but at the same time hopes that Helsinki will fulfill its obligations regarding the demilitarized status of these islands and the presence of the Russian consulate there, the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier.

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“Of course, if you operate under diplomatic status, your activities must comply with the rules of diplomacy. And we will definitely follow this. Meanwhile, the question arises, are not satellite observations today many times more effective than ground-based physical observations? In this sense the role of this consulate today may not be as great as it could be in the past. Of course, if any unacceptable activity is recorded, then Finland will respond in accordance with all the rules of diplomacy,” Niinistö said.