Finland, Norway block visas for Russian athletes

Finland's government on Thursday announced it was restricting visas for Russian athletes, insisting that they had "no business" in the country as long as the Ukraine war goes on. Finland, Norway block visas for Russian athletesHours later, Norway announced that it would prevent professional Russian and Belarusian sportspeople from competing on its territory.

Finland is preparing to host the Figure Skating World Championships in the city of Tampere in March 2027, and the International Skating Union said in a statement it was "studying" the implications of the decision. The Finnish government issued a resolution that tightened restrictions for Russians applying for short-term work visas, including for professional sports.

According to the new restrictions, "Russian citizens will only be allowed to work under a Schengen visa in tasks that are essential to Finland's national interests," said a foreign ministry statement. Schengen visas allow travel within 29 European countries signed up to the system.

Russian athletes, including those competing under a neutral flag, will be blocked from acquiring visas to the Nordic country. "As long as Russia's war of aggression continues, Russian athletes have no business in Finland," Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said in a statement.

"Their entry into the country would be a threat to Finland's international relations." Norway's government noted in its statement that Norway already had strict rules for visas for Russian and Belarusian citizens. But recent "relaxations introduced by international sports federations" meant more athletes and support staff from the two countries might come there to compete.

Norway is preparing to host the World Cup in cross-country skiing in December in the town of Trondheim. This decision, however, means Russian and Belarusian athletes could be blocked from competing despite having been cleared by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation .

The new rules in Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre long border with Russia, are set to come into effect on November 16. "The aim of the change is to prevent entries that Russia could use to spread messages supporting its war," Valtonen told reporters.

Russia uses "sports as a tool for propaganda", she added. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga welcomed Finland's move and urged other European nations to "close the remaining loopholes, and strengthen coordinated pressure on Russia," in a post on X.

The ISU said it believed "that athletes should not be punished for the actions of the governments in a world where, sadly, many conflicts are ongoing".