Helsinki apologizes for blacklisting Putin

HELSINKI - Reuters

Russian President Putin plays with his dogs. Finnish police accidentally put him on a blacklist of people with connections to criminal activity. AP photo

Finland apologized to Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 10 after its police accidentally put him on a blacklist of people with connections to criminal activity.

Seeking to avoid a diplomatic spat with its historically dominant neighbor, Finland quickly removed Putin’s name from the list which is not public, but whose inclusion of Putin was revealed by Finnish broadcaster MTV3 earlier on April 10.

Police acknowledged the list existed and said Putin’s name was accidentally included, but had since been deleted.

Putin caught on cameras while playing with his dogs

“I wish to extend Russia’s President Vladimir Putin sincere apologies for the incorrect registry entry,” Interior Minister Paivi Rasanen said in a statement.

Police said it was not immediately clear how Putin’s name came to be included on the list, and it was being investigated. Finnish chief of police Mikko Paatero said the incident was regrettable.

“These kind of incidents are extremely exceptional, and not under any circumstance acceptable,” he said in a statement.