Finland and the Baltic countries have called on the EU to include biometric control in its border crossing information system and registered passengers' programme, which is to be launched this autumn.
The four countries' interior ministers have sent a joint appeal to EU interior affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmström. Finnish Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen initiated the appeal on Monday at an informal meeting of EU justice and interior ministers in Cyprus.
The appeal argues that the technology should be adopted before granting visa-free access to citizens of Russia and other countries to the east of the EU. Finland has the EU's longest external border, a 1,340 km frontier with Russia.