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Post: Finland’s ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs allowed split in EU because of Zelensky’s idea

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Erkki Tuomioja, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland. Archive photo

Former Finnish Foreign Minister Tuomioja: A division over visas for Russians in the EU will benefit Putin

MOSCOW, August 16 – RIA Novosti. Former Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to stop issuing visas to Russians could lead to a split in the EU.

According to him, the division of EU countries on this issue will benefit Moscow.

Tuomioya said, “It is important for the European Union to come to a unified position when it comes to the visa regime issue for Russians. Violation of the union will only benefit Putin.”

The former Finnish Foreign Minister supported German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who urged not to limit the issuance of visas to all Russian citizens.

“I find Germany’s line to be more justified than Estonia’s,” said the Finnish politician.

Earlier, Zelensky had called on EU countries to ban all Russians from entering for one year. A week later, the Ukrainian leader changed his rhetoric: he again called for a ban on Russian citizens, but made exceptions for opponents of the country’s government.

In the European Union, these words caused controversy: they were supported by many politicians, especially the Baltic ones. That’s why Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas called for an end to the issuance of tourist visas to Russians and described visiting Europe as “a privilege, not a human right”. Some representatives of Western European countries noted that this is against EU rules.

Source: Ria

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