The garage of the airport of the Finnish capital, Helsinki, is crowded with Russian luxurious automobiles, in a scene that summarizes the record of the transformation of this Scandinavian region into a “transit” station for Russian travelers.
There are dozens if not hundreds of luxury Porsche, Bentley and Mercedes cars and trucks parked in the Helsinki airport garage, according to the British newspaper “The Guardian” on Tuesday.
A fast tour of the Helsinki garage demonstrates luxurious Russian autos, like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Sedan and the Porsche 911 Turbo S.
For his component, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto pressured that his state has grow to be a “transit nation” for Russian visitors.
He added that the Finnish capital’s airport is at this time witnessing a key movement in Russian tourism.
Helsinki explained past week that it will lessen vacationer visas for Russians to 10% in comparison to current figures, with the final decision to go into influence on September 1 future, due to the escalation of well-liked discontent with this tourism. .
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Luxury automobile at Helsinki Airport – AFP
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Russians can enter Finland with “Schengen” visas issued by various European nations.
“These get there on Schengen visas issued by various European nations and then continue to vacation by means of Helsinki Airport,” stated Haavisto.
A survey conducted by the Finnish Border Authority in August showed that two thirds of Russians getting into Finland from the eastern border do so by using “Schengen” visas issued by nations other than Finland.
Despite the fact that quite a few European nations have stopped granting tourist visas to Russians with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, other nations around the world have continued to grant them, which means they can enter all countries in the bloc.
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Helsinki Airport – AFP
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Curiously, with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on February 24, the European Union closed the airspace to Russian planes, forcing everyone wishing to vacation from Russia to this block to journey by auto or just take an indirect route through non-Russian airlines. westerners.
What clarifies the Russians’ motivation to travel by means of Finland is its geographical proximity to their state.
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