The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland refused to close the borders for Russian tourists, since the country does not have national legislation on the basis of which this could be done. The Foreign Ministry referred to the Constitution, according to which such steps can be regarded as discrimination.
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The law must be strictly observed <…>. Prohibition without reason is regarded as contrary to the principles of the rule of law, which are specified in the Constitution. Restriction based on nationality can be considered discriminatory, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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The memorandum of the Foreign Ministry also became known, in which the decision of Estonia to restrict the entry of Russians with Schengen tourist visas is assessed as a possible violation of the rules of the Schengen zone.
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Helsinki, in early September, seriously tightened the issuance of tourist visas for citizens of the Russian Federation, but did not begin to introduce a complete ban.
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Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland have closed their borders to Russian tourists since September 19. They justified this decision for security reasons. Exceptions are travel for humanitarian or family reasons.
