Finland to limit passenger movement on Finland’s border with Russia

Saturday, October 1, 2022

The Finnish government said that starting from Friday, it would limit passenger movement on Finland’s border with Russia considerably, prohibiting Russian citizens traveling with tourist visas from arriving in the Nordic country.

Finland Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that this decision looks forward to fully avert Russian tourism to Finland and the connected journey through Finland.

The Finnish government justified its decision by stating that unremitting influxes of Russian tourists in Finland are jeopardizing Finland’s international relations.

The Finnish government said that it had discussed the matter with Ukraine’s administration, among others, before making the decision.

Haavisto quoted security fears connected with Russia’s war in Ukraine, the “illegal” polls arranged by Russia and latest leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines igniting the decision.

However, Russian citizens can still enter Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer land border with Russia, for family reasons, or work and study reasons. Russian political protesters might also enter Finland for humanitarian reasons.

With effect from Sept. 1, Finland reduced the number of visas issued to Russian citizens to one-tenth of the typical number, including those for tourism. This move is a proof of unity with Ukraine.

Earlier, Haavisto had said that he is especially worried regarding a kind of Russian “tourist route” via Helsinki airport, which was used by several Russians before Moscow’s Feb. 24 attack on Ukraine.

So far, Russians have been crossing into Finland before going to other European nations as a way of avoiding flight bans coming in force after the conflict.

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