A Russian citizen who was not allowed to visit Finland for her sister’s birthday challenged the entry ban in a Finnish court. Details of the proceedings are given by foreign media.
The Russian woman was not allowed through the Vartius checkpoint in October 2022, explaining the ban as a threat to international relations. The woman insists that the purpose of her trip was her sister’s birthday. The citizen of the Russian Federation herself also lived in Finland before and, according to her, did not commit crimes against public order.
The Administrative Court of Northern Finland decided that there were no legal grounds for the entry ban, but the Russian woman’s complaint was rejected and the decision of the border guards was considered legal. As stated in the decision, the authorities have already clarified who is considered family members. Brothers and sisters are not included in this group. As writes Tourdomthe judges took into account the fact that the Schengen border regulations can be ignored if there is an “extraordinary need for maintaining public order”.
Recall that Finland was closed from tourists from Russia at the end of September last year. At the same time, according to the Finnish Foreign Ministry, Russians received the most visas to Finland in 2022 and bought a record amount of real estate. Read about how the new Finnish rules are arranged in the Fontanka article.