Moscow — Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has strongly criticized Finland’s decision to strip thousands of Russian and Belarusian citizens of their right to purchase property, calling it a case of “blatant ethnic segregation.”
According to Zakharova, approximately 20,000 Russian nationals and several hundred Belarusians living in Finland on temporary residence permits are now barred from buying property in the country.
“Helsinki is adopting measures that amount to outright segregation based on ethnicity,” Zakharova said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), condemning the move as discriminatory and politically motivated.
The Finnish authorities have not issued an official comment in response to Moscow’s statement, but the property restrictions are seen as part of a broader tightening of policies toward Russian nationals following the Ukraine conflict and rising geopolitical tensions.
