The news
Helsinki has a proposal to ban Russian citizens from buying real estate in Finland, which has the longest land border with Russia of all NATO countries, due to national security concerns.
The party plans to ban the purchase of real estate by most Russian citizens after suspicious activity was observed at Russian homes, including fortifications and helicopter pads.
The “aggressive war waged by Russia“Helsinki has forced,” Finland’s defense minister said: the proposed legislation will not explicitly mention Russia, but will apply to countries that have “violated the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of another state.”
SIGNALS
A war over Russian property
The new law would build on legislation introduced last year that allows government intervention in real estate transactions for national security reasons. Since then, Helsinki has blocked numerous sales with ties to Russia, including that of a former nursing home near a military base. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told Bloomberg that these properties “could be used for certain damages or possibly as a bridgehead in connection with a larger operation.” While the number of real estate sales to Russians has declined, Another 116 applications have been approved last year, Italehti reported. The new law will explore more effective expropriation measures, as well as improved oversight of the 3,500 properties is currently being monitored.
Latest escalation in increasingly sour relations
Relations between Moscow and Helsinki are dramatically deteriorated since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, which prompted Finland to join the NATO military alliance last year. Since then, Finland has blocked all migration between the Scandinavian nation and Russia, with which it shares an 830-mile border. Helsinki has accused Russia of trying to use migration as a weapon by encouraging thousands of asylum seekers from countries such as Syria and Somalia to cross the Russian border into Finland. In July, Finland said a Russian ship had entered Finnish territorial waters, and a month earlier, four Russian planes had violated its airspace.
