Course for action: Finland prepares rallies in support of opening borders with Russia
Despite Finland's categorical refusal to open its borders with Russia, the activists of the "Alexandrov Society", who earlier posted a petition on the website of the European Parliament, will continue to demand this from the country's authorities and are planning new rallies in spring, the organization told Izvestia. They point to the significant damage that the closed borders cause to the moral and material condition of the residents of the regions bordering Russia. The tourism sector in Eastern Finland has been particularly affected. The expert community notes that in the eyes of the Finnish authorities, the perception of Russia as a threat prevails over economic expediency. The economic consequences of closing the border between the countries - in the material of "Izvestia".
Finland demands to open borders with Russia
Russian-speaking community "Alexander Society" is going to hold new rallies in Finland in the spring with a demand to open the border with Russia, confirmed "Izvestia" in the organization.
- No rallies are planned for the winter period. If the situation does not change, we will go out again in spring. For now, we will hold events indoors," the organization said.
Activists have already organized protests. On December 15, "Alexander Society" held rallies in Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Lappeenranta. Dozens of people came to the rally in the Finnish capital.
At the moment, the Finnish authorities do not intend to reopen the checkpoints on the border with Russia, closed in November 2023 under the pretext of controlling the flow of refugees from third countries. On January 8, 2025, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said that "the assessment of the threat of the eastern border remains unchanged".
At the same time, last fall, after a long moderation, the European Parliament allowed the publication of a petition drafted by the "Alexander Society". The text of the document, posted on the EP website, states, among other things, that the decision to close the border has dealt a blow to Finnish families with family ties to the Russian Federation. Thus, the document explains, legal residents of Finland, living in the Finnish part of North Karelia, can not visit their parents living in the Russian part of the region, as to go to Russia through Estonia or Norway, it is necessary to overcome several thousand kilometers instead of the conventional 100 km through the land border checkpoint.
The authors of the petition believe that the closure of such checkpoints causes "harm to the moral and material condition of residents of the regions bordering Russia, as well as irreparable damage to the EU economy." As a representative of the organization explained to Izvestia, the EP petitions committee, having recognized the document as justified, requested a report on the topic from the European Commission. According to him, the committee's response should come in the coming months.
- We are not going to back down, despite the categorical statements of the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Mari Rantanen in the style of "we will not open the border for anything". A closed border violates at least the Schengen Code, not to mention the amount of problems it creates for ordinary people. We will continue to talk about this both inside and outside Finland," the organization added.
At the same time, on January 13, the republic's border guards started the second stage of another exercise near Russia. They involve about 300 people from the police, customs, defense forces and rescue service. The exercises will last until January 17. The first stage took place on January 8 and 9.
In addition, by the end of 2026 Finland intends to build about 200 kilometers of fortifications on the eastern border. At the same time, the height of the fence will be increased to 3.5 meters, while the metal network will become more dense. Border guards also want to start tracking the movement of cell phones on both sides of the border.
In any case, last spring, President Alexander Stubb promised upon taking office that he had no intention of dialog with the Russian Federation while hostilities in Ukraine were ongoing. At the same time, the absolute majority of the country's residents support anti-Russian sanctions and are in favor of continued military aid to Kiev. This indicates a heightened perception of the "Russian threat", analyst Nikita Lipunov of the Institute of International Relations of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations Nikita Lipunov said in a conversation with Izvestiya.
- Such sentiments are heated up in every possible way by the authorities and leading media, including Western media. That is why Finns support the sanctions restrictions. In general, Finnish politicians and society have been fully solidarizing with Ukraine for the last several years and believe that Russia should be somehow "called to account", including through sanctions restrictions. To a certain extent, they perceive the border closure as a form of their personal sanctions response to Russia. For the Finnish leadership, it is also an extra opportunity to show its citizens that there is a threat from the east, and for the leaders of the European Union - that Finland is effectively dealing with it," he said.
How the closure of the borders has affected the Finnish economy
Despite the fact that there is a railway connection between Russia and Finland for the transportation of goods, the sanctions and the lack of road links between the countries have not left without consequences for the economy. According to the data of the customs office of the republic, trade turnover with Russia for the first 10 months of 2024 amounted to €1.07 billion, having decreased by more than 30% in comparison with the same period of 2023. At the same time, imports from Russia decreased to €779.6 million, and exports - to €288.3 million, thus showing a decrease of 25.1% and 42.5%, respectively, compared to the figures for the same period in 2023.
The country's tourism sector has been particularly affected by the border closure. In April 2024, the Hotel and Restaurant Association stated that the number of travelers coming to Finland has decreased by about one-fifth when compared to the figures for 2019. Finland, in particular, undercounted tourists from Russia. The figures of the statistical service of the Republic speak for themselves: if in 2020 the country was visited by more than 90 thousand of our citizens, spending in the hotels of the country more than 203 thousand nights, in 2023 - 21 thousand and 34 thousand respectively. In 2024 only 6 thousand Russian tourists visited Finland, and the number of overnight stays barely reached 10.8 thousand.
In July 2024, Helsinki Times noted that Eastern Finland was particularly hard hit by the decline in the number of visitors from Russia. If in 2013 the share of Russian tourists amounted to 28% of the total number of foreign visitors to the republic, the previous year it fell to 1%.
In this situation, in October 2024, the authorities decided to allocate €3 million to the region of Eastern Finland to support the tourism sector. As Yle writes, according to the idea of the government, this money should help the region to find "new competitiveness", to keep the population at the expense of tourism and attract new residents.
One way or another, before the border was closed, the residents of the Finnish regions located next to it, derived direct economic benefits from the neighborhood with Russia. In this sense, the example of the so-called "gasoline tourism" is illustrative, when Finns crossed the border specifically to fill up their cars at cheaper Russian gas stations. According to local media estimates, this helped some families save hundreds of euros every month. At the same time, expectedly, the border closure turned out to be profitable for the owners of Finnish gas stations located in the border areas. They fear that opening the borders could again deprive them of customers who have moved to them.
- The eastern regions of Finland are indeed harmed by the border closure, but according to the Finnish government, the potential threats from Russia are higher. Joining NATO is another consequence of this heightened perception of a "threat from the east." The closure of the border perfectly illustrates the approach of the current Finnish leadership to the policy towards Russia, so the border between the countries is unlikely to open in the near future," Nikita Lipunov concluded.
At the same time, Moscow believes that the opening of the border between the countries depends on the Finnish authorities' refusal to abandon their Russophobic course. As Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted on November 13, in order to make the lives of citizens of both countries "more comfortable, the Finnish authorities should get out of the Russophobic frenzy they have been in lately for a while and make a sober assessment of whether the closure of the border is in the interests of Finnish citizens". Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the closure of Finnish checkpoints on the border with Russia, noted that the Russophobic position that the leaders of this neighboring country have begun to adhere to is deeply regrettable.
