MEP Tynkkynen also denied entry into UK after Räsänen

Radical rightist Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party) leader and Member of European Parliament (MEP) Sebastian Tynkkynen has been denied entry into the United Kingdom, the lawmaker said.

“I was just banned from entering the UK. Elected politician. Defender of girls and women. Unbelievable,” Tynkkynen wrote in a post on his social media platform X on Wednesday.

Local media, quoting Tynkkynen said that he got the notification to his email about the cancellation of his Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) when he was preparing to leave Brussels for the airport on Wednesday.

The British authorities in the notification said that his presence in the country would not serve the public interest, reported national broadcaster Yle, quoting the MEP as saying, adding the notification also mentioned that the lawmaker had no right to appeal against the decision.

Tynkkynen was scheduled to join an event of conservative group in London on Thursday.

He disclosed his convictions for agitation against a minority group in the application for the ETA, reported a leading Finnish language national daily Helsingin Sanomat.

In August 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Tynkkynen awarded by Oulu District Court in 2021 for inciting ethnic agitation.

It was the second incident of entry denial to Finnish politicians by the British authority in this month.

Earlier in July, the UK denied Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for Suomen Kristillisdemokraati (Christian Democratic Party) lawmaker and former Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen.

Meanwhile, Tynkkynen in another post on his X said that Belgian police blocked him from entering the European Parliament for about one hour.

“Today (Wednesday) Belgian police blocked me - a sitting Member of the European Parliament- from entering the European Parliament for nearly an hour. They were on the phone with Brussels Mayor Philippe Close, who was personally directing their actions,” he wrote.

He said that the Mayor prevented him from delivering over half a million European citizens’ signatures for the Save Europe Act.