The finance minister questioned why Finland needs foreign berry pickers when unemployment, particularly among young people, remains high.Finance Minister Riikka Purra (Finns). Image: Birgitta Vuorela / YleYle News15:16Finance Minister Riikka Purra (Finns) has defended the decision to reject most seasonal work visa applications for foreign wild berry pickers, arguing that Finland's berry industry should not rely on labour from abroad."This is a problem that has been discussed in Finland for years, and now it is finally being addressed," Purra told Yle.The Ministry for Foreign Affairs said last week it had received around 2,200 seasonal work visa applications for wild berry picking this year. Of the roughly 1,600 applications processed so far, about 1,400 have been rejected.According to the ministry, the refusals were based on concerns over the risk of worker exploitation and shortcomings in employers' ability to meet their legal obligations.Purra questioned why more people already living in Finland could not take on the work, pointing to the country's high youth unemployment."It's a very unusual situation.Pickers have to be brought from the other side of the world to Finnish forests to collect Finnish berries because, allegedly, no pickers can be found in Finland," said Purra.The visa refusals have raised concerns within the berry industry, with companies warning that large quantities of wild berries could remain unpicked this summer.Birgitta Partanen, executive director of the natural products industry group Arctic Aromas , said the sector had not anticipated such a sharp drop in the number of foreign berry pickers and warned that berry prices are likely to rise.