Ukraine called Finland to close the border with Russia

Today, September 21, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba met with the Foreign Minister of Finland by Pekka Kaavisto. He wrote about it on Twitter. “We have focused on further military assistance to Ukraine because we protect our people and our land from Russian aggression. I called on Finland to join the Baltic and Poland in the border closing with Russia, ”he wrote.

Video of the day from September 19, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have banned entry to Russian citizens with tourist Schengen visas issued by EU countries. Currently, Finland is actually the only one where Russian tourists can enter land. On September 12, the Council of the European Union's decision on suspension of the simplified visa agreement with Russia came into force against the background of a full -scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine.

For Russians, this means that on July 31, the EU foreign ministers have reached a political agreement to completely suspend the simplified procedure for issuing visas to Russian aggressor citizens. Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stated that they were ready to take "national measures" to reduce the number of Russians who enter their countries until the EU has made a collective decision. Some EU countries, including Germany and France, oppose the full visa prohibition.

On September 9, the European Commission provided recommendations for member states for consideration of visa applications submitted by citizens of Russia's aggressor country. The EC recommended that "show special care" when checking whether applicants from Russia could pose a threat to safety or international relations, and in this case to refuse them on the basis of an individual assessment.