“Everything is very fair”
Maxim Ivanov wrote on his Telegram channel that the Finnish leadership “carries out unfriendly actions against Russia.” In particular, the country wants to join NATO. In addition, citizens of the Scandinavian country “rejoice” in the eyes of Russian tourists, including the anthem of Ukraine.
“At the same time, the Finns are big fans of high-quality and relatively inexpensive Russian gasoline. They go from Finland to Russia to fill the car. Oil tourism. Wonderful. But I still suggest moving symmetrically. If a Finnish citizen wants to fill up a car with gasoline at a Russian gas station, let him sign a document before buying, stating that he supports a special military operation in Ukraine and categorically condemns the sanctions against the Russian Federation, ”the deputy wrote.
According to him, if a Finnish citizen signs it, he will be allowed to fill the car.
“You do not sign -“ goodbye ”, you push the car back to the border. Everything is so simple and so fair!” – says the parliamentarian.
collective responsibility
8 August Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declaration In an interview with The Washington Post, he said that Western countries must block entry to all Russians for a year in retaliation for the special operation. According to him, the closure of borders is the “most important sanctions” that will restore the status quo at the beginning of hostilities.
“Until the Russians change their philosophy, they must live in their own world,” the Ukrainian leader said.
He also called for this measure to be expanded to cover Russian citizens already abroad. Zelensky believes that “the entire population of Russia” bears “responsibility” for the start of the NWO.
“Whatever the Russians are, let them go to Russia,” said the head of state.
A day ago, former Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja wrote on his Twitter account that Zelensky’s call to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens could lead to a split in the European Union.
“When dealing with the issue of visa regime for Russians, it is important for the European Union to come to a common position. “Violation of the Union will only benefit Putin,” he said.
Tuomioya also supported German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who urged not to restrict the issuance of visas to all Russian citizens because he found the German line “more reasonable”.
But on August 13, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto spoke about a possible mechanism to restrict the issuance of Finnish Schengen visas in Russia. It consists in reducing the days of accepting tourist visa applications in Russia to once a week.
On the eve of Haavisto on Yle TV approvedFinland will reduce the number of tourist visas issued to Russians.
“Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has prepared a mechanism that will limit the issuance of visas to Russians, reduce the number of ordinary tourist visas, and prioritize those traveling for family, education or business reasons.” said.
According to him, Finnish authorities plan to reduce the number of accepted applications to a fifth or a tenth of the current volume. Prior to that, the Scandinavian country accepted about a thousand applications per day, according to the channel. Accordingly, only 100-200 applications will be allowed after the restrictions are introduced.
As early as Wednesday (August 17th), Haavisto announced at a joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart, Urmas Reinsalu, that the country will not cancel visas previously issued to Russian citizens.
“We do not touch the old visas, they are still valid. There are no controls at the borders of the countries in the Schengen area. We want to increase the pressure for further action. This will be discussed at a meeting at EU level at the end of August.” said.
Russia’s response
As early as July 27, the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, placed A statement by the official representation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova, which she described as a “discriminatory political measure” by Finland the idea of restricting the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens.
“At the same time, Finnish politicians do not hide that the main purpose of their initiatives is fruitless attempts to more strongly “punish” Russia and its citizens. The initiators of the ban do not remember any threats to Finland’s safety or the health of citizens, ”said the statement.
Zakharova also suggested that such innovations are “the entry fee to NATO” that will only cause tension in the region.
“Restricting the travel of Russian citizens for political reasons will be another step towards aggravating the conflict in bilateral relations. “The Russian side reserves the right to retaliate if the relevant plans are implemented,” he said.
In turn, Oleg Morozov, deputy of the United Russian State Duma, told RIA Novosti that Finnish citizens should be allowed to Russia only in the form of individual humanitarian movements related to treatment and funerals.
According to him, “we will definitely pass without visiting the hot Finns for gasoline.”
The agency also reported that in July, the country received about 17.2 thousand visa applications in Russia, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. At the same time, in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, Russians filed 786,407 visa applications, of which on average only 0.7% were rejected.