Finland to shut consulates in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Myanmar: ‘Focusing on priorities’

In a major overhaul of its network of missions abroad, Finland has decided to close its embassies in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Myanmar in 2026 due to ‘operational’ and ‘strategic’ reasons. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland has released a notification in this regard.

“The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has decided to close the embassies of Finland in Islamabad, Kabul and Yangon in 2026. Decisions on closures are made by a decree of the President of the Republic. The embassies will be closed for operational and strategic reasons, which are linked to changes in the countries’ political situation and their limited commercial and economic relations with Finland,” the notice read.

Besides, Finland’s Foreign Ministry has decided to establish a Consulate General in the United States’ Houston.

Focus on ‘strategically important’ countries, says Foreign Minister

Reacting over the developments, Finland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Elina Valtonen said the decisions were taken to concentrate on the nations that were ‘strategically important’.

“We will systematically develop Finland’s network of missions abroad to meet future challenges. Our operating environment is changing rapidly. The changes to be made will help us to build a stronger and more competitive Finland and to manage Finland’s external relations in accordance with our priorities,” she said.

UAE halts visa issuance to Pakistani citizens

Earlier, the UAE senior official said the Gulf nation has stopped granting visas to Pakistani citizens. Additional Interior Secretary Salman Chaudhry said Islamabad narrowly escaped a passport ban by UAE and Saudi Arabia as doing so would have made it difficult to uplift the embargo, PTI reported citing Dawn newspaper.

He said visas are currently being issued to blue and diplomatic passport holders.

Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, who chairs the Senate’s Human Rights Committee, has confirmed the development. She noted that the decision was taken due to growing concerns about Pakistani travellers to the UAE becoming involved in unlawful activities.

According to Zehri, only a small number of Pakistani applicants have recently managed to secure UAE visas—and even those were granted after significant difficulty.

In recent weeks, many Pakistanis have reported increased visa refusals from the United Arab Emirates. The authorities in Pakistan have also voiced their concerns in this regard