AFP: Helsinki airport parking lot full of Porsches and Bentleys with Russian license plates

The Helsinki airport parking lot is filled with luxury cars with Russian numbers, according to Agence France-Presse. “A quick walk (...) showed dozens if not hundreds of luxury cars with Russian plates, including the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan and the Porsche 911 Turbo S. “It amazes me”, - says Finnish traveler Jussi Hirvonen, from the parking lot. “I would like them not to be here before the situation in Ukraine is resolved”, - the article says.

According to Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, after the EU closed its airspace to Russian aircraft, Finland became a transit point for Russian tourists: “They enter here on Schengen visas issued by different countries, and then continue on their way further through Helsinki Airport". In August, Finnish border guards calculated that about two-thirds of Russians crossing the border between the Russian Federation and Finland enter on the "Schengen" issued by other countries: Hungary, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece...

Against the backdrop of dissatisfaction with Finland's visa policy, the country's authorities last week announced that from September 1, they would limit the number of tourist visas for Russians: it will be only 10% of the current volume. According to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania intends to seek a "regional solution" to stop tourism from Russia if sanctions are not adopted by the entire European Union. In the event that EU member states fail to agree on common sanctions, next week Lithuania will hold talks with Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Poland. This will happen at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, which will be held in the Czech Republic on 30 August.