According to Yle, the Finnish Foreign Ministry confirms that it is negotiating with the European Union and Russia over the possibility to grant visa-free travel to the holders of Russian passports traveling on government business.
If opening up for visa-free travelling for state officials, Finland will follow suit with Germany, which this month informed the EU Commission about its change in position on the issue.
As previously reported, Germany was long one of the key opponents of the Russian demand to grant exclusive visa-free travel for the special group of Russian civil servants. For more than a year, the issue has deadlocked talks on visa facilitation between the sides. With the change of position among key EU countries, a breakthough in visa facilitation talks between the sides could be within reach.
Russia has an estimated 200,000 holders of official passports. The right to visa-free travel will be granted to just 15,000 of them, Yle reports.
Finland from before has one of the most liberal visa regimes in the Schengen zone. Located along the border to Russia, the country has placed major efforts in facilitating cross-border travelling with Russian neighboring areas. The number of visas granted to Russians by Finnish consular stations continues to grow and will soon exceed 1,5 million per year.
