The EU closed its airspace to Russian planes after Moscow invaded Ukraine, forcing anyone wanting to travel to Europe to cross borders or take a circuitous route using non-Western airlines. Since Russia’s Covid-19 restrictions ended in July, there has been a boom in the number of Russian travelers and a growing backlash in Europe against allowing Russian tourists to enter while the war continues. A quick stroll through the parking lot at Helsinki Airport revealed dozens, if not hundreds, of high-end cars with Russian license plates, including a new Mercedes-Benz S-class sedan and the Porsche 911 Turbo S. “It bothers me,” said a Finnish traveler, Jussi Hirvonen, after leaving the garage. “I wish he wasn’t here before the Ukraine situation was resolved.” Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that Finland has become a “transit country” for Russian tourists. “Helsinki airport receives a lot of Russian tourism at the moment,” he added. Finland said last week it would limit the number of Russian tourist visas to 10% of the current volume from September 1 after growing resentment over Russian tourism amid the war in Ukraine. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Russians continue to enter Finland with visas issued by other EU countries in the Schengen border-free travel area for their travels. “They come here on Schengen visas issued by different countries and then continue further through Helsinki airport,” Haavisto said. According to a survey conducted by the Finnish border guard in August, about two-thirds of Russians who cross Finland’s eastern border do so with a Schengen visa issued by a country other than Finland. “Hungary, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece and Spain usually issue visas to Russians and are generally among the top issuing countries each year,” said Mert Sacioglu, a border guard official. Schengen rules do not allow Finland to close the border to certain nationalities, Haavisto says. Such sanctions can only be decided jointly by the EU. “As Finland and the Baltic countries plan to limit these visas, it would be good if all EU countries take similar decisions,” he added. This sentiment was shared by many Finns at the airport. “There should be an EU decision to close the borders,” said one traveller, Jussi Hirvonen. The Nordic country plans to raise the issue at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Czech Republic on August 30. –
