Finland: Traffic increases on border with Russia after Putin enlists

THE vehicle traffic reaching the east Finland’s border with Russia rose overnight, the Finnish border guard announced early this morning, adding however that the situation is under control. Finland is closely monitoring the situation in neighboring Russia after MsRussian President Vladimir Putin’s initiation of a partial mobilization of reserves, said yesterday, Thursday, the Minister of Defense of the country Andi Kaikkonen.

However, the number of people crossing the border yesterday was lower than at the weekend, said Matti Pitkaniitti, head of international affairs at the Finnish border guard.

A total of 4,824 Russians arrived in Finland via the eastern border yesterday, up from 3,133 a week ago.

The border guard is on standby at nine checkpoints, he said in a statement to Reuters.

Last night the Finnish border guard had announced that border traffic was “normal” after Putin announced the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists to reinforce Russian forces in Ukraine.

The situation “has not changed significantly” she said in a message on Twitter. disproving rumors circulating on the internet of long queues of several kilometres.

The country’s foreign minister also announced yesterday that Finland will prepare a “national solution” to limit or even completely block the passage of “Russian tourists” on its territory.

The country, which faced several controversial crossings of Russians over the summer, already this month cut the number of entry visas it grants to Russians by a tenth in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, as reported by APE-MPE, today it is the only EU member state bordering Russia that allows Russian citizens holding Schengen visas to cross its borders, after Poland and the three Baltic states decided earlier this month to block the entry of large numbers of Russian citizens.

Wanting to harden its line as well, the Finnish government “decided to prepare a national solution (…) on how to limit or completely prevent this tourist traffic” of Russians, according to the statements made last night by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Peka Haavisto.

These measures “could include new legislation, which will be adopted very quickly, or an interpretation of existing legislation,” he explained.

“Finland no longer wants to be a transit country for (those with) a Schengen visa issued by other countries. From now on we want to put this kind of crossings under control,” he added.

Helsinki is asking for a common European decision on this issue, but “it cannot be certain that it will come quickly,” the Finnish foreign minister concluded.

According to a poll published by Ilta-Sanomat newspaper yesterday, around 70% of Finns want to see an end to the granting of tourist visas to Russians.

*File photo