The authorities of the Finnish city of Turku will purchase the former building of the Consulate General of Russia and then demolish it.
The decision on this was unanimously adopted by the city council on Monday. The municipality pays 1.6 million euros for a plot of 3,500 m2, on which a building with an area of 2,000 m2 was built in 1974. In its place, a new facility will be built, likely a kindergarten.
The transaction must be completed by the city council without waiting for any appeals to be heard. The services will first have to clear the land from the area, because at the beginning of the 20th century there was a foundry and a zinc smelter on this site.
The consulate in Turku was in use until the end of September, after which the Finnish authorities terminated the lease. Its functions were transferred to the Russian Embassy in Helsinki, and the building itself, which was built for the Soviet Union’s diplomatic mission, was thoroughly checked by the police after the diplomats left it.
Schengen visas for Russians. The consulate in Finland issued most of them
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö warned of the closure of the Russian consulate in Turku in the summer. He then announced retaliatory measures following the expulsion of nine Finnish diplomats from the Russian Federation and the closure of the Consulate General in St. Petersburg. In the 1990s it became a ‘window to Europe’ for many Russians. It was this facility that began issuing long-term visas to residents of Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast.
Until recently, this consulate issued most Schengen visas to Russians. In 2019, more than 643,000 were issued there. permits – 16 percent all issued to Russians at that time, and in 2022, despite restrictions on tourists: 82,827 visas, or 14%. all issued permits.
Overall, the Schengen visa refusal rate for Russians has increased to 10% in 2022. compared to 1.5 percent in 2019, the last normal tourism year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The “Window to Europe” in St. Petersburg is closed
From October 1 this year, residents of St. Petersburg, where the border crossing with Finland by highway is only 150 km away, and other regions of Russia bordering Finland, must apply for visas, residence permits and all other documents at the Finnish Embassy in Moscow , which significantly limits their travel options.
The decision to demolish the Russian consulate in Turku will certainly be met with retaliation from Moscow. The Kremlin has not yet commented on the matter.
Source: Do Rzeczy
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
