Russian citizens may be banned from buying real estate in some areas of Finland (still from the film 'Peculiarities of the National Fishing')
According to 'Novye Izvestia', a series of publications in local media reporting on Russians buying up strategic objects near the border and fairways caused concern among Finland's top leadership. An anonymous military expert, commenting on the situation in the pages of the newspaper Iltalehti, suggested that official Moscow stands behind private individuals and companies from Russia, preparing to build bases in Finland in the event of war or crisis.
'The war in Ukraine and Russia's actions have affected the strategic situation and our perceptions of security. Something must be done. We cannot allow the state not to have the right to intervene in property issues when it comes to strategically important objects,' commented Finnish Defense Minister Carl Haglund, expressing the authorities' point of view at a military conference held in early March in Helsinki.
It should be noted, however, that the attack on Russian property owners in Finland began long before the crisis in Ukraine and the deterioration of relations between the Russian Federation and the EU. 'Russians are buying real estate near strategic objects. This undermines the country's defense capability,' was the main theme of speeches by participants in the popular program '45 Minutes' on Finnish television channel MTV3, aired several years ago. The debates were devoted to questionable acquisitions by Russians of land plots and houses in the Land of a Thousand Lakes.
A number of objects were bought near airfields, radar stations, relay line masts, and locations of military units. Program participants noted that in some cases, Russian investors promised to make large capital investments on the acquired lands, intending to build hotels or tourist centers there, but these assurances remained empty words.
According to expert Juhani Väänänen of the National Land Survey of Finland, the influx of Russian buyers began in 2004, when all restrictions on the purchase of real estate by foreigners were finally lifted. Four years later, a record was set: Russians became owners of 780 objects of various kinds, from small summer cottages to substantial boarding houses.
In 2009 and 2010, the number of purchases fell by almost half due to the crisis, but Russian citizens still constitute the main group of foreign home and landowners in the Land of a Thousand Lakes. Three-quarters of 'non-Finnish' acquisitions are by Russians, who have bought, among other things, two dozen holiday resorts. The new Russian holdings are concentrated mainly in eastern Finland, including along the shores of the canals and lakes of the Saimaa water system.
'Rumors have been circulating that Russians are buying real estate in strategic areas, particularly near fairways. If they are not stopped, they will soon take over the entire country,' wrote expert Väänänen in his column on the website of the National Land Survey.
At first, the complaints of local residents and some politicians concerned the economic side of the issue. The influx of Russians with fat wallets led to a multiple increase in prices for cabins and land plots in Finland's border areas. Leader of the populist party 'True Finns' Timo Soini as early as 2008 stated that he would seek legislative restrictions on the purchase of real estate by persons who do not have citizenship of an EU country, in order to stop the rise in prices. In the last parliamentary elections, the 'True Finns' received 19.1% of the vote – 15% more than four years earlier, becoming the third largest party in the country!
Finnish observers note that the electoral slogans of the populists have already begun to be co-opted by their political competitors. Timo Soini's proposal, whose party is currently in opposition, to erect barriers against foreigners 'buying up the country' may also get the green light.
The discussion about 'Russian mafiosi' taking over Finnish forests and lakes to launder their capital took a new turn after Russian investors acquired the Sirius Sport Resort tourist center, spread over ten hectares near the city of Lovisa in eastern Finland. The fears of Finnish 'patriots' were caused by the fact that Sirius Sport Resort is located in close proximity to a secret radar station, whose location is not disclosed by either the Ministry of Defense or the municipal authorities of Lovisa.
'It does not matter which foreigner buys land near strategic objects, a German, a Swede, or someone else, the armed forces cannot prevent the deal. We follow the legislation, which sets no restrictions in this area. The Ministry of Defense does not even always know about land deals by Russians,' commented on the dangerous proximity of Sirius Sport Resort to the radar station the head of the information department of the main headquarters of the Finnish Defense Forces, Eero Karhuvaara, in an interview with the newspaper Ostnyland.
Finnish media in their reports about Russian property in strategic areas of the country emphasize the fact that 'outsiders' have the right of access to military facilities closed to other citizens of the country. This is because owners of real estate in restricted zones, according to the law, have the right to freely move around their territory. Now this 'liberalism' may come to an end.