HELSINKI, January 15. /TASS/. Finland is preparing to completely ban Russian citizens from buying real estate in the country this spring, public broadcaster Yle reported citing the country's Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen.

Hakkanen said that he is working "on a complete ban" on real estate sales to Russians in Finland and is now looking for the "legal grounds" necessary to make this happen.

He also noted that Finland plans to tighten the conditions for issuing permits for real estate transactions to persons and companies from countries outside the EU and the EEA (European Economic Area). According to Hakkanen, "solutions will be found in the spring."

On January 10, it was reported that Hakkanen had banned three real estate transactions, including those involving Russian citizens.

Tighter regulations for Russians and other representatives of countries outside the EEA have been in effect in Finland for several years. The last time the rules were tightened in early 2023, which gave the Defense Ministry broad authority to investigate where the money for real estate transactions was coming from, as well as giving the government the right of first refusal to purchase property located within a radius of less than a kilometer from military or border patrol premises.

On November 4, 2022, the Finnish Defense Ministry announced the creation of a special group to explore additional restrictions on real estate transactions for citizens of countries outside the EEA, including their complete ban.