Finland to ban Russians from buying property

Selling real estate to citizens of the neighboring country presents a national security risk, the defense minister has claimed

Most Russian citizens will be prohibited from buying property in Finland under a proposal announced by Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen on Monday. The ban will also apply to people “influenced” by Russia, Hakkanen’s office stated.

Finland has already blocked six real estate sales to Russians over the past year, on the grounds that the properties in question were located near military bases and other strategic sites.

The proposed ban would apply to “persons whose country of nationality has been found by the European Union to be in violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of another country or whose country of nationality may be a threat to Finland’s national security,” according to a statement posted on the Finnish Defense Ministry’s website.

This designation currently applies to Russians, whom Hakkanen described in a press conference as “possible hostile influences against Finland.” The minister told reporters that Finnish law enforcement agencies are already monitoring 3,500 properties linked to Russian owners, without providing further details.

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Hakkanen said that the ban will not apply to dual citizens or Russian citizens with permanent residency in Finland or any other EU country. However, the defense ministry’s statement said that it will apply to people “who are owned or influenced by citizens or entities” from Russia, a vague description that is not explained in more detail.

A bill based on the proposal is expected before parliament by the end of the year.

Relations between Helsinki and Moscow deteriorated sharply after the Ukraine conflict began in 2022, with the country abandoning its neutrality and applying to join the US-led NATO bloc that May. Finland was accepted as a NATO member last year, and despite a change of government two months later, the Nordic state has continued its anti-Russian course.

Earlier this summer, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen called on other NATO members to allow Ukraine to use donated weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.

The defense ministry’s statement on Monday went beyond previous moves to block property purchases, describing any sales to Russians as a threat to “the Finnish economy, infrastructure, businesses and security.” 

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“The purpose of the proposed provisions is to prevent hostile broad-spectrum influencing by means of property owned in Finland,” it said, without explaining the term “broad-spectrum influencing.”

Monday’s announcement comes almost two months after Finland passed a law allowing border guards to turn back non-European immigrants from entering the country via Russia. Helsinki has accused Moscow of sending these people to Finland as part of a “hybrid war” aimed at destabilizing the Nordic nation.

Russia has dismissed this claim. In April, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Helsinki of refusing cooperation between the countries’ border agencies.