"In the mid-April of this year, the Russian Center of Science and Culture (RCSC) in Helsinki received notices from the National Enforcement Authority Finland about the temporary (for up to three weeks) ban on any real estate activities concerning the land used by RCSC, the service building located there, as well as several apartments in Helsinki used by the RCSC," the ministry said.
"The Finnish side justified its actions by the intention to examine whether these properties were assets that are subject to arrest under the sanctions decisions of the EU."
The ministry said that "in connection with these illegal actions, the Russian Embassy sent a note to the Finnish Foreign Ministry, which outlined that the property in question is owned by the Russian Federation, and demanded an explanation of how, in such a case, the decision of the National Enforcement Authority correlates with international legal norms." Following the action, the decision on the land and the building of the RCSC in Helsinki was reversed, according to the ministry.
"According to the currently available information, there are no grounds for the seizure of this property," the ministry said, citing the Finnish authority.
"However, the situation around the apartments used by the RCSC remains unsettled. No explanations on this issue have not yet been received from the Finnish authorities," the ministry said, expressing surprise that it took the Finnish authority so long to verify information about the owner of the land and the RCSC building.
"If desired, one can verify it in a few minutes by making a corresponding online request to the national registry of real estate, which, for example, Finnish journalists did on the first day after the reports on restrictions concerning the RCSC property appeared," the ministry said.
The ministry said that Moscow considers the actions of the Finnish National Enforcement Authority "as another sentiment against Russia."
"Russia will be forced to take response measures in the event of refusal to resolve the current situation," the ministry said.