LONDON, July 22 (World Daily Times) — British authorities revoked a previously approved Electronic Travel Authorization for Finnish lawmaker Päivi Räsänen, blocking her from traveling to Northern Ireland for speaking engagements tied to faith and free speech, Räsänen said.
Räsänen, a former Finnish interior minister, said the cancellation came without explanation. She said she had been scheduled to speak in August at the Bangor Worldwide Missionary Convention on “free speech and faith.”
The travel setback follows a March conviction by Finland’s Supreme Court over a 2004 pamphlet, “Male and Female He Created Them,” and related comments on marriage and sexuality, according to Räsänen’s account of the case. Räsänen said she plans to challenge the ruling at the European Court of Human Rights.
Reports on the Finnish case also identify Bishop Juhana Pohjola as another figure tied to the proceedings and describe him as a church leader with the Association of Confessional Lutheran Churches within the International Lutheran Council.
Yle reported that most visitors to the UK have needed an ETA since April 2025.
