Finland closes Consulate in St Petersburg this week

Finland will close its Consulate General in St Petersburg this week following the cancelation of the authorisation made by Russian government and the deteriorating relations between the countries after the Russia´s invasion of Ukraine.

“Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg closes this week. Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine broke the basis of our relations. 6 July Russia announced that it would revoke the license for the Finnish Consulate General from 1 October,” the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs wrote in a twitter post on Wednesday.

On July 6, Russia announced that it would expel nine Finnish diplomats and cancel the authorisation of Finland's Consulate General in St Petersburg.

According to Russia, the announced expulsions are a countermeasure in response to Finland’s decision, made on June 6, to expel nine members of the personnel at the Embassy of Russia in Helsinki.