Home · Faith
UK bars Finnish Christian MP Räsänen from Northern Ireland free-speech event
Confirmed
What we know
Finnish MP and former interior minister Päivi Räsänen was blocked from entering the United Kingdom to speak in person at a Northern Ireland religious liberty / free-speech conference in mid-August.
ADF International: her UK Electronic Travel Authorisation, approved in June, was cancelled in July after Finland’s Supreme Court convicted her in March 2026 of “hate speech” over passages in a 2004 church booklet on marriage and sexuality. Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola was also blocked after an ETA denial.
Räsänen and ADF called on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to intervene; she said she applied for a full visa after the ETA cancellation and had not received a timely answer. Coverage in Christian Post, National Catholic Register and Catholic Herald matches the ADF timeline.
Räsänen, Pohjola and the Luther Foundation Finland are appealing the Finnish conviction to the European Court of Human Rights. The Finnish court had acquitted her on a separate Bible-verse social-media charge.
What's confirmed
- ETA cancellation and conference speaking shift to virtual appearances reported by ADF International (Aug. 18) and multiple Christian outlets.
- March 2026 Finnish Supreme Court conviction on the 2004 booklet (narrow 3–2) is on the public record in those reports.
- U.S. State Department / U.S. Embassy Finland had publicly flagged religious-freedom concerns around the Finnish case, per ADF and secondary coverage.
What's still developing
- Any Home Office or Home Secretary public explanation of the ETA cancellation.
- European Court of Human Rights timetable on the Finnish appeal.