Finland’S PM Wants the Whole EU to Stop Giving Tourist Visas to Russians

Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in an interview with the broadcaster Yle on Saturday that he will ask EU leaders to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians altogether. The plan is to raise it at the European Council summit in Brussels on 15–16 October.

Orpo’s reasoning is security. He says the risk of Russian sabotage in Europe is obvious, and he put the question bluntly:

“Why, then, are we allowing Russians to come here as tourists and move around freely?”

— Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Yle interview, 10 October 2026

According to Orpo, European countries issued roughly 800,000 tourist visas to Russians last year, while Finland issued none. The idea has been floating for a while. Finland itself stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians in 2022, and in June 2026 eleven European countries, Finland among them, asked the European Commission for additional limits on Schengen visas for Russian citizens.

A concrete proposal

The prime minister framed his plan as a single, practical step rather than another round of talks:

“At next week’s European Council meeting, I will propose a concrete measure: to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians for travel to Europe.”

— Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Yle interview, 10 October 2026

In the same interview Orpo also called the new US–Russia agreement on Russian diesel a “terrible disappointment”, though he expects it to have little effect on the US or global market.

The visa question is likely to meet resistance. A ban would apply to ordinary travellers, not only to people suspected of sabotage, and it needs agreement among all Schengen states, which have so far been split on how tough to be. The leaders’ summit will also be dominated by the fight over the EU’s next seven-year budget.