Need a reason for banning russians from entering finland?
> Moscow “will react very negatively” if Helsinki follows their lead and also suspends visa services for Russians, a Kremlin spokesperson said this week.
There it is. No EU country should yield to russia’s intimidation.
“The Finnish government is coming under increasing public and political pressure to close the EU’s eastern border with Russia, and put a stop to an apparent sanctions loophole.
Russia relaxed its COVID-related border restrictions mid-July, meaning for the first time since before the pandemic, Russians with Schengen visas can now legally cross the border by bus or car, even though they’re banned from travelling to the EU in planes and trains.
“The Russians have started coming,” said Juho Pesonen, Professor of Tourism Business at the University of Eastern Finland.
“**Shopping tourism has always been one of the main reasons why Russian tourists come to Finland, even if it’s just for a day**,” he told Euronews.
But the fact there are any Russians coming to Finland at all is notable because **Finland is now the last EU country bordering Russia to still issue tourist visas** — some 13,000 so far this year — **while other countries like Poland and the Baltic countries have stopped doing so**.
**Moscow “will react very negatively” if Helsinki follows their lead and also suspends visa services for Russians, a Kremlin spokesperson said this week.”**
The Kremlin already shut the gas to Finland, breached their airspace multiple times in the past months and have threatened to move troops on the border, what else do they think they can do to sound intimidating?
2 comments
Need a reason for banning russians from entering finland?
> Moscow “will react very negatively” if Helsinki follows their lead and also suspends visa services for Russians, a Kremlin spokesperson said this week.
There it is. No EU country should yield to russia’s intimidation.
“The Finnish government is coming under increasing public and political pressure to close the EU’s eastern border with Russia, and put a stop to an apparent sanctions loophole.
Russia relaxed its COVID-related border restrictions mid-July, meaning for the first time since before the pandemic, Russians with Schengen visas can now legally cross the border by bus or car, even though they’re banned from travelling to the EU in planes and trains.
“The Russians have started coming,” said Juho Pesonen, Professor of Tourism Business at the University of Eastern Finland.
“**Shopping tourism has always been one of the main reasons why Russian tourists come to Finland, even if it’s just for a day**,” he told Euronews.
But the fact there are any Russians coming to Finland at all is notable because **Finland is now the last EU country bordering Russia to still issue tourist visas** — some 13,000 so far this year — **while other countries like Poland and the Baltic countries have stopped doing so**.
**Moscow “will react very negatively” if Helsinki follows their lead and also suspends visa services for Russians, a Kremlin spokesperson said this week.”**
The Kremlin already shut the gas to Finland, breached their airspace multiple times in the past months and have threatened to move troops on the border, what else do they think they can do to sound intimidating?