Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland had already taken a similar decision, in connection with the influx of Russian nationals into their countries since the announcement of partial mobilization in Russia for the war in Ukraine.
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Faced with a sharp increase in entries from Russia, Finland will close its borders from Thursday, September 29, midnight, to Russian citizens with European tourist visas from the Schengen area, the government announced Thursday in mid- daytime. That “aims to completely prevent the current situation of Russian tourism in Finland and related transit through the country”, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said.
The announcement of Moscow’s partial mobilization for the war in Ukraine, which resulted in a jump in entries into the Nordic country from Russia, “had a significant impact” on this decision. Referendums “illegal” of annexation in eastern Ukraine and the alleged sabotage of Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea “raised concerns”said the minister.
The Nordic country thus aligns itself de facto with the decision taken at the beginning of September by Poland and the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), the four other countries of the European Union bordering Russia.