HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finland will revoke the license of the Russian consulate in Turku, one of the two Russian consulates in the country, the Finnish government said in a statement on Wednesday.
Finland last month said it was preparing the closure of the consulate in a tit-for-tat move, after Russia expelled nine Finnish diplomats and decided to close Finland’s consulate in Saint Petersburg.
“Russia’s announcement of the closure of Finland’s Consulate General in Saint Petersburg as of October 1 2023 was an asymmetric response to Finland’s earlier announcement of expulsions,” the Finnish government said in a statement.
The government said it was also carrying out an extensive legal analysis of the special status of the Finnish Baltic Sea island Aland, adding that it would also look into the status of the Russian consulate on the island.
(Reporting by Essi Lehto, editing by Louise Rasmussen)
