Finland to russia travel

Border russia sweden

Indice

Currently there is just the 1 ferry route between Finland and Russia operated by 1 ferry company – St Peter Line. The Helsinki to St Petersburg ferry crossing operates weekly with sailing durations from about 14 hours 0 minutes.

Russia is a land of snow and deadly winters, but also of rivers meandering through meadows and a summer sun that never sets. Its people, in the words of a Russian proverb, “love to suffer,” though they also enjoy parties and can be incredibly generous and hospitable.

Finland map border with russia

The city of Viborg, Russia, is located in the Leningrad region on the east coast of the Gulf of Finland, 120 kilometers from St. Petersburg. Founded by Swedes and maintaining a distinctly European style even to this day, it is best known for Viborg Castle, which used to be a strategic fortress that served as a regulator between the Russians and the Scandinavians.

The city prospered largely thanks to its strategic position and the important role that trade played in its economy. During the Great Northern War in 1710, Peter I’s troops occupied the citadel in the famous Siege of Viborg, a decisive victory which virtually eliminated the threat to St. Petersburg from its northern neighbors. From then on, the city belonged to Russia until 1917 when, after the Russian Revolution, it became part of Finland. In accordance with the peace treaty signed after World War II, Viborg was returned to Russia and remains under its control to this day.

St. Petersburg and Finland

Helsinki / Riga (EuroEFE) – The Finnish Government agreed on Tuesday to reduce by 90% the issuance of visas to Russian citizens compared to current levels from September, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told the press that once this measure comes into force, Finnish consular services in Russia will only accept a tenth of the nearly 1,000 visa applications they receive daily.

At the same time, they will review current consular practices to facilitate the granting of humanitarian visas to Russian citizens critical of the war in Ukraine who want to leave Russia, such as human rights activists or journalists.

For its part, the Latvian government announced Tuesday that it is abandoning an agreement with Russia to facilitate cross-border travel and visa issuance for citizens of both countries that dates back to 1993.

Although Latvia has already stopped issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens due to the invasion of Ukraine and only accepts visitors from that country in special circumstances, the cancellation of the 1993 agreement will remove the formal obligations to promote freedom of movement between Russia and the Baltic country.

Helsinki russia

The border can be crossed only at official checkpoints, and at least a visa is required for most people. The main border checkpoints are at Vaalimaa and Nuijamaa, where the customs services of both sides inspect and levy tariffs on imported goods.

After the Finnish War, the Treaty of Fredrikshamn made all of Swedish Finland a Russian possession, thus creating the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Finno-Russian border was moved back to the pre-1721 location, so the Grand Duchy gained the so-called “Old Finland”, territories that were previously occupied by Sweden in 1812.

During World War II, Stalin severely suppressed the native Finnish-speaking population (Ingrian Finns) through population transfers, collectivization and purges, so that the border areas would be free of Finnish peoples.

The land border was later demarcated in the Treaty of Paris (1947) after the Continuation War (1941-44), in which Finnish Karelia, including Finland’s second largest city Vyborg, parts of Salla and Petsamo were ceded to the Soviet Union. The new border ran through Finnish territory proper, cutting off many railway lines and isolating many Karelian towns from Finland. The Soviet Union demanded to depopulate these territories. Finns were evacuated from the area and resettled in other parts of Finland; almost no one was willing to stay. The areas were repopulated by Soviet immigrants. The Porkkala naval base was leased by the Soviet Union, but returned to the Finnish government in 1956. The maritime border was established in 1940 and further defined in 1965.

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