HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland suspended visa-free entry for Slovak citizens on Tuesday to stem the accelerating inflow of Gypsies who it says are fleeing Slovakia in search of a better life in the rich Nordic country. The government said it would suspend an agreement with Slovakia on free travel for four months, starting on Wednesday. "It is hoped that the suspension will curb the accelerating influx of asylum seekers from Slovakia," the foreign ministry said after an emergency cabinet meeting. Nearly 400 Slovak Gypsies have arrived in Finland in the last few days on regular flights from Budapest and Prague, seeking political asylum. Over 1,000 have come to Finland since the start of the year. The Gypsy families say they are fleeing persecution at home. But the Finnish government shares the view of Slovak officials that the motive for the Gypsy migration is economic and that Finland‘s generous welfare system is a lure. "Despite shortcomings in the living conditions of the Romany people, Slovakia is a democratic country," the government said. Finland is the latest destination in a string of Western countries hit in the past few years by waves of Gypsy immigration, including Britain, Germany and Belgium. Attacks on Gypsies in Slovakia and the neighbouring Czech Republic have been on the rise in recent years, but official indifference, high unemployment and poor education are making their plight even harder. Violence against Gypsies was seldom an issue in Slovakia under the previous, populist government of Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar. His successor, Mikulas Dzurinda, pledged last year a "new deal" for the Gypsy community as part of efforts to improve Slovakia‘s human rights record. Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Figel sought to reassure Finland on Monday that the government was doing its best to protect the Gypsy community from harassment. "Individual cases (of harassment) are investigated and prosecuted," he said after talks in Helsinki. Finnish officials said most of the Gypsy asylum-seekers faced the prospect of deportation. For the moment they are staying in refugee centres already swollen with hundreds of Kosovo Albanians, while the government deals with their asylum applications via a special fast-track procedure.