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Finland does not accept U.S. immigration restrictions: president

Xinhua, January 31, 2017 Adjust font size:

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Monday he did not accept the U.S. decision to ban entry of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Niinisto told Finnish news agency STT that labelling people on the basis of their nationality or extraction was wrong. He said such measures were against Western values and international agreements.

Instead, Niinisto suggested cooperating with countries suspected of being sources of terrorism or strengthening information gathering and exchange of information.

Some Finnish government ministers including foreign minister Timo Soini had also said that they did not accept the restrictions.

Under the executive order U.S. President Donald Trump signed on Friday, refugees from all over the world will be suspended from entering the United States for 120 days while all immigration from so-called "countries with terrorism concerns" will be suspended for 90 days.

Countries included in the ban are Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The total population from these countries exceeds 130 million.

The ban sparked chaos across U.S. international airports and continuous protests nationwide in the past days. Endit