Finland mulls renewal of non-essential travel restrictions on Russians

The President and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy on Tuesday noted that travel by Russian citizens may still be harmful to Finland’s international relations, said a government press release.

The committee at a meeting discussed the issue of travelling by Russian citizens to Finland and through Finland to the rest of the Schengen area and observed that the restrictions on non-essential travel should therefore be kept in place and tightened to prevent breaches.

The committee viewed that the government may renew the resolution on travel restrictions issued on 29 September 2022.

The meeting discussed the preparations for the forthcoming NATO Summit scheduled to be held in Vilnius on July 11–12.

The committee also received an overview of the negotiations on the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between Finland and the United States and an update on Finland’s participation in international crisis management.

Finland currently has approximately 450 soldiers participating in eleven military crisis management operations within the frameworks of the UN, the EU, NATO and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.

The committee also discussed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and current issues concerning Russia. The events seen in Russia in recent days are an internal matter for Russia, and developments are being closely monitored both in Finland and in cooperation with allied and partner countries.