Finland–Russia border

The easternmost point of Finland is the western part of an island in Lake Virmajärvi, divided by the border. The white and blue striped pole on the left represents the Finnish border zone, while the red and green striped pole on the right represents the Russian border zone. The short white pole in the middle marks the actual border.

Border zone signs in fi:Paljakka.

The Finnish–Russian border is the roughly north/south international border between Finland and Russia. Some 1,340 km (833 miles) long, it runs mostly through uninhabited taiga forests and sparsely populated rural areas, not following any particular natural feature or river. It is also part of the external border of both the Schengen Area and the European Union.

Border crossings are controlled and patrolled by the Finnish Border Guard and Border Guard Service of Russia, who also enforce border zones (0.1–3 km on the Finnish side, 7.5 km on the Russian side). Entry to a border zone requires a permit. The electronic surveillance on the Finnish side is concentrated most heavily on the "southernmost 200 kilometers" and is constantly growing in sophistication. Russia maintains its 500-year-old border patrol in the arctic region as elsewhere and plans to upgrade Soviet border technologies to both save on cost and to fully maximize the efficiency of the Border Service by the year 2020. But Lieutenant-General Vladimir Streltsov, deputy head of the Russian border service, noted that electronic surveillance will never replace the human element.

The border can be crossed only at official checkpoints, and visas are required. Major border checkpoints are found in Vaalimaa and fi:Nuijamaa, where customs services on both sides inspect and levy fees on imported goods.

The two endpoints of the border are a tripoint of Norway, Finland, and Russia (69°03′06″N 28°55′45″E) in the north on Muotkavaara, and the shore of Gulf of Finland, in which there is a maritime boundary between the respective territorial waters, terminating in a narrow strip of international waters between Finnish and Estonian territorial waters.

History

The first border treaty concerning this border was signed in Nöteborg in 1323, between Sweden (to which Finland belonged) and the Novgorod Republic. The Treaty of Teusina moved the border eastbound. The Treaty of Nystad in 1721 and the Treaty of Åbo in 1743 moved the border westward. However, the Treaty of Fredrikshamn converted all of Finland from Swedish territory to a Russian possession; and at that time, the Finnish–Russian border was moved back to the pre-1721 location.

In 1920, the Russian/Finnish Treaty of Tartu in 1920 defined Finland as independent and demarcated the countries' common border. The land border was later demarcated in the Treaty of Paris (1947) following the Continuation War (1941–44), in which Finnish Karelia and Petsamo were ceded to the Soviet Union. The naval border was established in 1940 and more accurately defined in 1965. The border is uncontroversial and clearly defined by law. Both states verified the inviolability of borders and territorial integrity in the first Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe in 1975.

During the Cold War, the border constituted part of the perimeter of the Iron Curtain. The Soviet side had extensive electronic systems and patrols to prevent escapes. Soviet border surveillance began at a great distance from the actual border, and was as extensive as elsewhere along the Iron Curtain. However, unlike in the West proper, the government of Finland did not protect illegal border crossers but returned them to the Soviet authorities if captured. Illegal border crossers had to get through Finland in order to defect to the West.

Incidents

According to a Russian media report, Finland closed its Lotta (ru:Лотта (МАПП)) border crossing with Russia, referred to on Finland's side as fi:Raja-jooseppi, on 4 December 2015, an hour and a half before the day's scheduled closing time and thus prevented fifteen people of Mid-East origin from crossing the border. According to the same source, some Finnish border officials confirmed that Rajajooseppi had closed early that day while a spokesman for the same department said the checkpoint closed at its regular time of 2100 hours.

On 26 November 1939, the Soviet Union's Red Army shelled the Russian village of Mainila, and blamed Finland. The Soviets used this false flag operation as the pretext to start the Winter War a few days later.

List of border checkpoints

From north to south.

• fi:Raja-jooseppi (road 91 / P11 / 47А-059)
• Salla (road 82)
• fi:Kuusamon raja-asema (road 866 / A136)
• fi:Vartius (road 89)
• Vartius (Kontiomäki–Kostomuksha railway, freight only)
• Niirala / Vyartsilya (road 9 / A130)
• Imatra (road 62 / A124)
• Imatra (Imatra–Kamennogorsk railway, freight only)
• fi:Nuijamaa (road 13 / A127)
• Vainikkala (Riihimäki – Saint Petersburg Railway, passenger and freight trains)
• Vaalimaa (road E18 / 7 / M10)

Passport stamps

The following are Finnish ink passport stamps applied at the Finnish–Russian border.

• 
  Passport entry stamp from the Finnish border checkpoint at Imatra
• 
  Passport exit stamp from the Finnish border checkpoint at Imatra
• 
  Passport entry stamp from the Finnish border checkpoint at Nuijamaa
• 
  Passport exit stamp from the Finnish border checkpoint at Vaalimaa
• 
  Passport exit stamp (old style) from the Finnish border checkpoint at Vaalimaa

External links

• The Finnish Border Guard, Border Surveillance