The News
Helsinki unveiled a proposal to stop Russian nationals from buying property in Finland, which shares the longest land border with Russia of any NATO country, over national security concerns.
It plans to ban real estate purchases by most Russian citizens after saying it had observed suspicious activity at Russian-owned homes, including fortifications and helipads.
The “war of aggression conducted by Russia” has forced Helsinki’s hand, said the Finnish defense minister: The proposed legislation will not name Russia explicitly but will apply to nations that have “violated the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of another state.”
SIGNALS
A war on Russian property
The new law would build on legislation put in place last year that allows for state intervention in real estate transactions on national security grounds. Since, then Helsinki has blocked numerous sales with links 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 some acts of damage or possibly as a bridgehead in connection with some larger operation.” Though the number of real estate sales to Russians has declined, 116 requests were still approved last year, Italehti reported. The new law will explore more effective expropriation measures as well as improved oversight of the 3,500 properties currently being monitored.
Newest escalation in increasingly sour relations
Relations between Moscow and Helsinki have dramatically deteriorated since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which prompted Finland to join the NATO military alliance last year. Since then, Finland has blocked all migration between the Nordic nation and Russia, with whom it shares an 830-mile border. Helsinki has accused Russia of attempting to weaponize migration by encouraging thousands of asylum seekers from countries like Syria and Somalia to cross the Russian border into Finland. In July Finland said a Russian vessel had encroached on Finnish territorial waters, and a month earlier that four Russian planes had violated its airspace.