Following a directive from the European Commission (EC) last week, Finland will close its borders to vehicles with Russian license plates from midnight tonight, just as the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) did last Wednesday.
As reported by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs this Friday, Ban It comes into effect at midnight on Saturday (18:00 on Friday in Chile) and affects all passenger cars, motorhomes and vehicles registered in the country that transport up to 10 people. Russia .
Vehicles with Russian license plates can enter Northern Europe by: European Union (EU) nationals with permanent residence in Russia and their families, diplomats and people entering the country for humanitarian reasons.
Similarly, those who own vehicles with Russian license plates in Finland will have up to six months to take them out of the country, but what sanctions will Finnish authorities impose on those who do not? Not explained.
“In cooperation with border states and EU member states, we will monitor the application and effectiveness of these measures, especially from the perspective of sanctions evasion,” Finland’s foreign minister told a news conference. Elina Valtonen.
Finland has the longest border with Russia of any EU member state (1,340 km), and approximately 5,000 vehicles currently pass through the border crossing between the two countries every week. Despite the restrictions Helsinki has placed on Russian tourism.
According to Valtonen, about 75% of these border crossings are carried out by nationals with dual citizenship, residence permits or family ties.
On September 8, the EC published new guidelines on the application of sanctions against Russia. ukraine war These included banning cars with Russian license plates from entering the EU and Russian citizens from importing personal property such as computers and smartphones.
