What new restrictions Finland and Latvia have imposed on Russians
Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and the risk of new Kremlin-driven threats in other regions have radically changed how European countries approach national security and defence.
In an effort to counter these emerging challenges, several EU countries have focused on real estate owned by Russian citizens. Such properties could be used for espionage, sabotage or even during a potential ground invasion.
In response, some EU states have begun introducing preventive legislative measures.
Among the most consistent examples are Finland and Latvia.
Read more about their experience in the article by Svitlana Hordiienko of the Institute of Legislative Ideas: Aggressors not welcome here: how the EU restricted property sales to Russians and Belarusians.
Over the past five years, Finland’s Ministry of Defence has identified more than 3,500 properties across the country linked to Russian owners. Some of these properties raised suspicions, for instance, summer houses equipped with large helicopter pads or forest cabins oddly fortified with military-style gear.
There were also cases where Russians invested in abandoned hotels or empty warehouses that had stood idle for years but happened to be located near border checkpoints on the Finnish-Russian frontier.
In light of these threats, in July 2025, Finland introduced a series of legal amendments to strengthen control over real estate purchases by foreign nationals.
The country adopted a "strict filtering" mechanism through a licensing system.
Applications to purchase real estate are now reviewed by the Ministry of Defence, which has been granted broad access to information from key agencies, including the migration service, police and tax authorities.
At the same time, to avoid excessively restricting the rights of those already integrated into Finnish society, an exception was made for individuals holding permanent residence permits in Finland or EU permanent residence permits issued by Finland.
Latvia, meanwhile, began in early 2025 to determine how much property in the country is owned by Russians and Belarusians. According to unofficial data, 1,832 Russian citizens and 124 Belarusian citizens, acting as beneficial owners of companies, possess real estate in Latvia through those corporate structures.
Latvia amended its legislation to require buyers seeking to purchase property near defence facilities to obtain permission from the Ministry of Defence.
In 2024, 119 such transactions near national defence sites were approved.
The State Security Service oversees the situation around critical infrastructure and also monitors the acquisition and leasing of property near such facilities.
In the summer of 2025, Latvia tightened real estate security regulations through a new Law on Restrictions of Transactions That Threaten National Security.
The law prohibits the purchase of real estate in Latvia by capital linked to aggressor states and bans its use for purposes contrary to the country’s interests.
In Ukraine, until 2022, there was formally no ban on Russians purchasing real estate, which led, in particular, to property acquisitions in major cities and subsequent activity by hostile agents.
Ukrainian legislation still lacks sufficient regulation in this area.
Since the start of the full-scale war, property purchases by Russians have been halted due to subordinate regulations, sanctions and increased oversight, but at the legislative level, the issue of regulating relations with Russia remains unresolved.