Finland limits visas to Russians amid rush of Europe-bound tourists

Finland will slash the number of visas issued to Russians from Sept. 1, the Finnish foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday, amid a rush of Russian tourists bound for Europe. Finnish land border crossings have remained among the few entry points into Europe for Russians after a string of Western countries closed their airspace to Russian planes in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine. The Finnish government agreed on Tuesday to curtail their numbers, after Russian tourists begun using Finland's Helsinki-Vantaa airport as a gateway to European holiday destinations following Russia's lifting of pandemic-related border restrictions a month ago. "And this maybe is not very appropriate if we, for example, think of the airspace restrictions put in place for Russia," Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters after government talks. Finland would cut daily visa application appointments in Russia from 1,000 to 500 per day, with just 100 allocated to tourists, the ministry said. The number of visas granted was already much lower than before the pandemic and the war. In July, Finland granted just 16,000 visas to Russians, compared with 92,100 during the same month in 2019, foreign ministry statistics showed.<br/>