Finland Times

     The Finnish authorities declined on Wednesday to temporarily exempt six Russian officials, including the speaker of the Duma Sergei Naryshkin, from an EU travel ban to participate in a meeting of the parliamentary group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) scheduled to be held in Helsinki from July 5 to 9.

     The Russian officials are subject to a travel ban by the EU after the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis.

     Following the Foreign Ministry's decision, Russia threatened that it would not send any of its delegates to the conference, and summoned the Finnish ambassador in Moscow, Hannu Himanen, to explain the decision.

Timo Soini told Finnish national broadcaster Yle on Thursday that the summoning was a positive step.

     Soini was quoted as saying that it is right that Russia expresses its own point of view directly to the Finnish ambassador.

     Russia's Foreign Ministry said in an online statement on Wednesday that Finland's entry ban of Russian officials is an "openly unfriendly" act that damages bilateral relations.

     Some Russian officials even accused Finland of deliberately escalating tensions between Russia and the west.

     Soini stated that the entry ban was not an act of aggression, adding that Finland hopes that Russia's other representatives will come to attend the meeting.

     This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the OSCE, the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization.

     Ministers from over 50 countries have been invited to attend the meeting, according to the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

     The decision for the OSCE meeting in Helsinki was made before the EU imposed sanctions against Russia for its alleged role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.