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The road at Verkhnii Lars towards Georgia
Photo: Olga Smolskaya / SNA / IMAGO
After partial mobilization for the war against Ukraine, Finnish border guards continue to monitor more traffic than usual.
At the main border crossing at Vaalimaa, cars on the Russian side were backed up for about 500 meters by 8 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, said the head of international affairs at the Finnish border guard, Matti Pitkäniitty.
On Saturday, a total of 8,572 Russians arrived across the land border in Finland, compared to 5,286 a week ago. 4,199 Russians left for Russia.
Many Russians enter Finland with visas issued by other Schengen countries and only use the country for transit.
The border guard announced that the travel profile had changed.
Before the pandemic, most entered through the Nuijamaa border crossing further north.
This is important for day trips to South Karelia.
Via Vaalimaa, now the busiest crossing, most traveled directly to Helsinki and then on to other Schengen countries.
Long queues at the Russian border crossing with Georgia
There are also reports of long queues from the Verkhnii Lars border crossing to Georgia.
Reuters reporter Jake Cordell reports on Twitter that there are 2,500 waiting cars and waiting times of up to 36 hours.
A look at the traffic situation on Google Maps shows that the road leading south from Vladikavkaz past Verkhnii Lars is red to deep red for about 17 kilometers - a sign of extremely slow traffic.
Under the impression of the partial mobilization ordered by the Kremlin rulers, politicians in Germany and the entire EU are discussing how to deal with Russians who are fleeing.
The Czech Republic, Poland and especially the Baltic countries want to reject them, in Germany there are more voices that approve of their inclusion.
Finland is the only European country to have opened its borders to Russia, but its Baltic neighbors are vehemently demanding a change of course: "Finland should close the border with Russia," demanded Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu.
mgo/dpa