Finland has refused to sign an agreement with Russia on family and civil cases, Russia's ombudsman for children's rights said on Friday.
Finland has seen numerous high-profile family-based incidents since a law came into effect in 2008 giving the authorities the right to remove children thought to be in danger from their homes before legal proceedings have started.
Pavel Astakhov said Finland had made "a serious international legal mistake" and that cases involving Russian children in Finnish-Russian families should be subject to the UN convention on human rights, as "both Russia and Finland are signatories."
In February, 7-year old Robert Rantala from a Russian-Finnish family was sent to an orphanage in the Finnish city of Turku after he told his classmates his mother had slapped him and he might return to Russia. Local authorities filed a lawsuit to deprive Robert's father and mother of their parental rights.
Another Russian-Finnish row hit the headlines recently when the Finnish authorities refused to give a residency permit to an 82-year old Russian woman who had lived with her daughter, a Finnish citizen, for two years after arriving on a tourist visa. Finland insisted on the deportation of Irina Antonova and she eventually left for Russia.
SOCHI, July 16 (RIA Novosti)
