Finland's Foreign Minister Timo Soini underscored that it was "pointless to over-dramatize" Russia's travel blacklist, which has restricted a number of senior European political leaders from entering Russia, noting that a similar ban had already been imposed on Russian civilians by the EU.
"It's a predictable reaction to the travel ban placed on Russian citizens. It's no big surprise," the foreign minister wrote in his blog, as quoted by Yle, a Finnish media outlet.
Earlier, on Friday, Green League MEP Heidi Hautala, the only Finn on the Russian blacklist, noted that those that have been banned from entering Russia are EU policy-makers who actively opposed Moscow's position regarding the situation in Ukraine.
Mr. Soini emphasized that "Heidi Hautala has offered her own views on the list and I believe her comments are accurate and restrained, and I don't have anything to add."
Reportedly, on May, 28 the Kremlin handed the EU a list of 89 politicians who have been barred from travelling to Russia. The Russian side has been yet published the list, and Russia's Foreign Ministry is yet to confirm the authenticity of the list, which was released by European media sources.
According to some reports, about 8 politicians on the Russian blacklist are from Sweden and only one is from Finland.
