Off the wire
• 2nd LD Writethru: Comprehensive Iranian nuclear deal supposed to be reached: Chinese FM  • Entry ban of Russian representatives not act of aggression: Finnish FM  • Libya peace talks resume in Morocco  • Greek PM sees debt deal within 48 hours after Sunday referendum  • Roundup: U.S. stocks end mildly lower on soft jobs report  • UN calls for normalization of Lebanon's institutions work  • ECB foreign exchange rates of Euro to other currencies  • 1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end mildly lower on soft jobs report  • German benchmark DAX index loses 0.73 pct on Thursday  • Malaysia seeks UNSC resolution to find who downed flight MH17  
You are here: 　 Home

Dispute over entry ban not to damage Finland-Russia relations: Finnish president

Xinhua, July 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Finnish president Sauli Niinisto said on Thursday that the recent dispute between Finland and Russia over the rejection to grant entry to Russian State Duma chair Sergei Naryshkin will not cause any deep wounds on the bilateral relations.

Niinisto told Finnish national broadcaster Yle that Finland has carefully examined the possibilities of exempting the Russian officials from the travel ban by the EU.

"Finland acted according to its own obligations, and according to agreed EU sanctions and travel bans," Niinisto was cited as saying. He added that it is a very "unfortunate situation."

Responding to the criticism made by Russian politicians about the issue, Niinisto said some of comments were a bit too sharp.

He insisted that the Finland-Russia relations remain "fundamentally sound," and the recent row will not cause any deep wounds on the relations.

On Wednesday, Finnish authorities declined to temporarily exempt Sergei Naryshkin from an EU travel ban to participate in a meeting of the parliamentary group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held in Helsinki from July 5 to 9.

The 15-member Russian delegation was invited to attend the OSCE meeting. Sergei Naryshkin and 5 other delegates are subject to a travel ban by the EU after the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis.

The rejection means that the Russian officials will not be allowed to enter Finland to participate in the meeting. Endit