Read all developments about the war in Ukraine in our file.
According to Matti Pitkäniitty, the Finnish Border Guard’s international affairs leader, a total of 4,824 Russians arrived in Finland across the border on Wednesday. The same day last week there were 3,133.
Previously, the border guard had denied social media posts of 35 kilometers of traffic jams in front of the Russian-Finnish border. The videos that were supposed to demonstrate this date from the past and have been taken out of context, it was said.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto announced that his country will find its own solution to the issue of Russian tourist visas. “Finland does not want to become a transit country for Schengen visas that other countries have issued,” Haavisto said on public channel Yle on Wednesday evening. Finland will therefore take a tougher stance on Russian citizens, although the border with Russia will not be closed completely. There are still legitimate reasons to enter Finland, it says.
Finland has a 1,340 kilometer border with Russia. This means that the Scandinavian country has by far the longest border with Russia among the EU Member States. Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian tourists have still been able to enter the Schengen area by car or bus across the Finnish border.