Räsänen denied travel permission to UK

The United Kingdom has denied Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for Suomen Kristillisdemokraati (Christian Democratic Party) lawmaker Päivi Räsänen, reported a leading Finnish language evening tabloid Ilta-Sanomat on Sunday, quoting the MP.

The denial forced Räsänen, also former Chair of the Christian Democratic Party and a former Interior Minister to change her travel route on her way to Finland from the United States.

According to the report, the lawmaker initially received the automatic approval of her ETA application, but the British authorities on July 3 cancelled it days before her flight from US to Finland via Londin scheduled for July 6.

The British authority did not mention the reason behind the denial and said that the decision was taken based on the information provided by the applicant.

Räsänen believes that the travel authorisation was rejected due to her conviction as her husband who submitted the application at the same time got a positive decision.

Earlier in March, 2026, the Supreme Court (Korkein oikeus-KKO) upheld the conviction of Räsänen of incitement against a minority group for her writings about homosexuality.

Räsänen published a booklet in Finnish in 2004 entitled "Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual Relationships Challenge the Christian Understanding of Humanity."

The booklet was published on the website of the Finnish Luther Foundation and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese.

“It was very shocking to me,” said the Ilta-Sanomat report, quoting Räsänen as saying, adding that it never happened to her as consequence of the verdict.

She, however, returned to Finland on Saturday using another route avoiding stopover in London, the report added.