The move is designed to punish Moscow for its decision to continue waging war in Ukraine. The Finnish government had already reduced the number of appointments per day for Russian nationals to 1,000. But with no end in sight to the fighting, Helsinki decided to act again. Of the 500 appointments per day, Finnish authorities will allow only 100 to be used for tourist visas, according to Jussi Tanner, director general for consular services at Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Finland has long been a popular travel destination for Russians. In 2013, before Russia invaded and then annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Russians accounted for 75 percent of the 13 million crossings from Finland’s eastern border, according to Tanner. The number of rejected Russian visa applications has increased tenfold since 2019 and is now at about 15 percent, Tanner said. Around 425 visas are now expected to be issued per day. Sanna Marin, the Finnish prime minister, said that while she recognizes that the issue is not “black and white” and there are many Russians who do not support the invasion, many people in Europe are disappointed to see “Russians traveling like nothing. it happened.” “The ordinary Russian people did not start the war, but at the same time, we have to realize that they support the war,” Marin told a news conference in Oslo on Monday. “I think it’s not right that Russian citizens can travel, enter Europe, enter the Schengen zone, be tourists, see the sights while Russia is killing people in Ukraine. It’s wrong”. Finland’s decision follows on Monday European leaders exchanging arguments over a possible Schengen or European Union visa ban for Russian citizens, with the leaders of Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark agreeing to discuss the issue further.
