For Russians, the rules for obtaining a visa to Finland are becoming tougher from September 1. This was stated in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic. Now, tourists will have to provide all the accompanying documents that are required by the directives of the European Union. This includes information about the place of residence or the itinerary of the trip, as well as confirmation of the availability of funds.

“An application for a visa will need to include proof of accommodation during the trip, as well as travel tickets, or, if they are not available, a written description of the applicant's trip. Proof of the availability of financial resources can serve as a certificate from the employer stating the amount of salary, a bank statement for the three previous months, or confirmation of the presence of real estate in Russia, ”the website of the Finnish Embassy said.

The same rules will also apply to those traveling to relatives or owning real estate in the Schengen zone. In addition, "close relatives of property owners must provide proof of kinship."

Thus, the website, the embassy, ​​the consulate general and its branches “will be guided by the common practice of the EU member states in providing documents required for applying for a Schengen visa”.

In the meantime, only a completed application form, a color photo, a valid passport, a copy of the internal passport, a receipt for payment of the visa fee and consent to the processing of personal data are needed for registration.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland expressed the hope that innovations will not scare the Russians. “It’s too early to talk about this, but we very much hope that the number of applications for visas from Russians will not decrease,” RIA Novosti quotes the head of the press department of the Finnish foreign affairs service, Vesa Häkkinen.

Against common interests

The State Duma believes that there is nothing extraordinary in the actions of Helsinki. But, as Dmitry Novikov, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, stressed, such tightening does not benefit either Finland or Russia.

“Of course, Finland can put forward such requirements, since it belongs to the Schengen zone and is tightly integrated into pan-European structures. There is nothing extraordinary in this sense. But it is clear that this is being done not only not in the interests of Russia, but also not in the interests of the Finns themselves. Whenever there are simplified procedures for the coordination of border crossings for citizens of two countries among themselves, this always contributes to cultural, tourist exchange and the development of business ties. And for Finland this decision is forced, caused by the all-European pressure on Russia, by the sanctions and information policy that is deployed in relation to our country, ”said Novikov.

Therefore, he stressed that in this case the policy is ahead of the interests of the economy, culture and good neighborly relations. The deputy suggested that the current innovation may affect the tourist flow from the Russian Federation to Finland, but not radically.

  • Helsinki, Finland
  • AFP
  • © Roni Rekomaa / Lehtikuva

“Because if a person wants to visit some country and the entrance is not closed for him, he will find an opportunity to overcome some obstacles. But the very presence of them will limit the number of people willing to cross the border and visit the territory of the respective state, ”he concluded.

Professor PFUR, political scientist Yury Pochta agrees with him. In his opinion, Helsinki do not want to break away from the European line of attitude towards Russia. However, they also do not want to worsen relations with Moscow.

“Usually this somewhat reduces the flow of tourists. Another thing is, if the Finns are still economically interested in Russian tourists, they can look for some options. Maybe issuing visas for a longer period, ”explained RT political analyst.

Simple practice

The Rostourism, in turn, is confident that the additional requirements for the package of documents for obtaining a visa, which will be effective from September 1, will not discourage the Russians from going to Finland.

“There are no problems either for tourists or for independent travelers who receive a visa. We are talking about the standardization of all conditions in all countries that are part of the Schengen Agreement. Moreover, we note that now the number of failures is reduced from year to year when applying for a visa. Everyone gets these visas, and most of these visas become multivisa. This allows us to travel to all European countries that are part of the Schengen zone many times over a year or even five years, ”the adviser to the head of Rostourism, Dmitry Gorin, assured in an interview with RT.

In this regard, he added, this year there is an increase in outbound tourism, as well as the development of domestic tourism.

Note that according to the European Commission, in 2018, Finland was the one that most issued visas to Russians. In 96% of citizens of the Russian Federation received multivisa. In general, Finland has issued 669,025 Schengen visas to the Russian Federation, RIA Novosti reported.