Since Russia’s coronavirus restrictions ended in July, there has been an explosion in the number of Russian travelers
Porsches, Bentleys and other luxury cars with Russian license plates fill his garage Helsinki Airportas Finland becomes an important transit country for Russian tourists traveling to Europe.
According to a report in the Guardian newspaper, the EU closed its airspace to Russian planes after Moscow invaded Ukraine, forcing anyone who wants to travel to Europe to cross the border or take a roundabout route, using non-Western airlines. .
Since the end of Russia’s coronavirus restrictions in July, there has been a boom in the number of Russian travelers, but also a backlash in Europe to prevent Russian tourists from entering while the war in Ukraine continues.
A quick stroll through the car park at Helsinki Airport revealed dozens, if not hundreds, of high-end cars with Russian number plates, including a new Mercedes-Benz S-class sedan and a Porsche 911 Turbo S.
“It surprises me,” said a Finnish traveler, Jussi Hirvonen, after emerging from the garage. “I wish he wasn’t here before the situation in Ukraine was resolved.”
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that Finland has become a “transit country” for Russian tourists.
Finland said last week it would limit the number of Russian tourist visas to 10% from September 1, following resentment over Russian tourism amid the war in Ukraine.
Russians continue to enter Finland on travel visas issued by other EU countries.
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 commonly issue visas for Russians and are generally among the countries that issue the most each year,” a border guard official said.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Tuesday he could seek a “regional solution” to ban Russian tourists if EU member states do not agree on sanctions across the bloc, and is expected to hold talks on next week with Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Poland on the sidelines of the EU foreign ministers meeting in Prague.
The Nordic country plans to raise the issue at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Czech Republic on August 30.
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