Thousands of Estonians Entered Finland Last Week Regardless of Travel Restrictions
Finland has received 10,600 Estonian visitors only during the third week of March, a hundred fewer visitors than during the second week of March.
About half, more precisely, 45 percent of the Estonian travelers entering Finland last week were logistic employees such as traffic operators. Of them, around 15 percent provided essential services, and another 15 percent were Finnish citizens.
The Finnish Government permits cross-border commuting, especially for essential workers. However, non-essential travel is currently banned, even if the person coming from another country presents a negative COVID-19 test, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
The port of Helsinki has received between 10,000 to 13,000 visitors from Estonia every week since January 2021. Therefore, due to ships commuting between Finland and Estonia on a day-to-day basis, the Finnish authorities have to coordinate the schedule in order to facilitate border control.
Additionally, over 5,200 passengers of Schengen and non-Schengen Area countries arrived in Finland through the airport of Helsinki only during the third week of March 2021.
Previously on March 11, the Finnish Government decided to extend its restrictions for entering the country until April 17, 2021, in order to contain the spread of the new variants of the virus and to control the overall COVID-19 situation.
The Finnish Ministry of Interior also announced that they would continue to help Estonia. In agreement with the current ongoing procedures, the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard district has notified the passengers at the Port of Tallinn regarding the entry restrictions since September 2020 in order for them not to be turned away at the Finnish border.
On the other hand, the Ministry informed that they had restricted entry into the country for all non-Schengen countries and some other non-EU countries, except Iceland.
The group of countries restricted from entering Finland includes Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
Restrictions have already been lifted for Vatican, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and New Zealand.
“The opening hours of certain border crossing points at the western border in Lapland and the eastern border will be restricted. The aim of these changes is to concentrate cross-border traffic mainly to daytime and evening hours. This will ensure that the health authorities have sufficient resources at the border,” the Ministry of Interior added.
Furthermore, the Ministry emphasized that all Finnish citizens have the right to turn to the country at any time, and all persons have the right to leave Finland as well if they wish to. However, the Government suggests that all unnecessary travel should be avoided.
