MOSCOW, June 1 Russia's actions regarding Finnish diplomatic accounts missions are a mirror response to similar restrictions in Finland for Russian foreign missions, Helsinki's statements about Moscow's violation of the Vienna Convention are absurd, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the agency's website.
“We have repeatedly said that the cornerstone of diplomacy has always been and is the principle of reciprocity. Our actions are a mirror response to similar restrictions on Russian foreign institutions in this northern European country, which can only use an account in one of the Finnish banks. , as you know, a de facto prohibitive commission of 5,000 euros has been set for any operation,» Zakharova was quoted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
She recalled that the Russian Federation had repeatedly raised the issue of lifting prohibitive measures before the Finnish side and warned that otherwise Moscow would be forced to take retaliatory measures.
“This statement by the Finnish side sounds simply absurd. It is surprising that when Finland began to comment all this situation, they forgot about their own actions in relation to Russian diplomatic missions and their own violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961,» Zakharova noted.
Earlier, the Finnish Foreign Ministry announced the blocking of bank accounts of Finnish diplomatic missions in Russia since the end of April.
As reported on April 1, the accounts of the Russian Center for Science and Culture (RCSC) in Helsinki were frozen by the Finnish Debt Collection Authority in the Finnish bank Nordea. The Russian Embassy in Finland is in contact with the Finnish authorities, is working on possible ways to ensure the work of the RCSC in Helsinki, the Russian diplomatic mission later reported. Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto reported that Finland received information about the freezing of accounts on April 27, and a note was sent to Russia.