The Speaker of the Finnish Parliament has refused to consider a citizens' initiative that proposed the legislature decide on the closure of the Russian consulate in Mariehamn.
The initiative recently garnered just over the required 50,000 supporters and was sent to parliament in November.
The presence of the Russian consulate office in Mariehamn stems from a bilateral treaty signed between Finland and Russia, meaning it's an international agreement and therefore outside of the scope of a citizens' initiative.
A few weeks ago, Finland said it will not take any action regarding the Russian consulate office, according to Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy (TP-UTVA).
Finnish authorities, however, said they will monitor the consular office's activities within the framework of their powers.
Edited at 16:41 to remove reference to Jussi Halla-aho (Finns). An earlier version referred to Halla-aho as making the decision about the citizen's initiative, but the issue was announced by First Deputy Speaker Paula Risikko (NCP).
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