Last spring, Finland was one of many EU countries to reintroduce controls at all borders. Now Finland is one of the few that still checks every visitor to the country.
According to the European Commission, the only other countries now inspecting all incoming Schengen countries are Denmark, Hungary and non-EU Norway.
In Finland, the number of coronavirus infections and deaths is the lowest in Europe, which is partly due to strict border controls. This autumn, the gap between the pandemic situation in Finland and elsewhere in Europe has widened.
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Next week, the government will have to decide whether to hold one of Europe’s toughest border policies after the end of November. Yle has learned that the matter will be decided on Thursday and that the answer is probably yes.
Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo (Green) declined on Sunday to say what he is proposing to the rest of the government.
“We will comment when the matter is completed and we have discussed it together. But it is clear that borders must be safe in all situations,” Ohisalo said.
Under the Schengen agreement, a country can, in principle, reintroduce internal border controls for a maximum of six months at a time.
The Chancellor of Justice blocked the final border decision
“We are already in an illegal situation with regard to the six-month Schengen rule. But certainly before we have a proper testing model at the borders, there must be some other model in place,” Ohisalo told Yle.
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Yle has learned that there is currently no alternative to internal border control because Finland has not been able to create a waterproof testing and quarantine system. However, enlargement may run into a constitutional obstacle.
Attorney general Tuomas Pöysti, which is responsible for the legality of government decisions, has followed a strict line on restrictions on the coronavirus, which in his opinion may violate the rights and freedoms guaranteed by Finnish and EU legislation.
Last month, the Ministry of the Interior prepared a decision to continue border controls, but according to Yle’s sources, Pöysti blocked the decision, claiming that there were insufficient grounds for it.
The travel industry is facing a gloomy Christmas
According to Pöyst, in the early months of the pandemic, the European Commission allowed countries to suspend freedom of movement.
“But now that the situation has dragged on, the Commission has begun to call for other ways to combat the epidemic,” Pöysti said.
Due to Finland’s restrictions, EU citizens have almost as weak access to the country as non-EU citizens. As admission is only allowed for necessary reasons, leisure trips are not possible, which causes great losses to the Finnish tourism industry – for which the Christmas season is usually a crucial period.
On the other hand, it is unlikely that a large number of tourists will come to Finland, even if the border restrictions are relaxed. Most of the countries that usually send the most visitors to Finland have restricted or strongly favored non-essential trips abroad.
Source: The Nordic Page