The Finnish Border Guard plans to permanently close the temporary border crossings Parikkala and Lieksan Inari. For several years, there has been no traffic through them.

This information is reported by Yle.

According to the publication, there are two temporary border crossing points in the Lieksa district - Parikkala and Iinär. They were mainly used for transporting timber.

Both border crossing points have been temporarily closed for several years. Traffic was halted at Parikkala due to EU sanctions, and at Lieksa Iinär due to the cessation of timber imports.

Temporary border crossing points along the Finnish-Russian border have been repeatedly reduced. At the turn of the millennium, there were still more than ten temporary border crossing points in operation.

"They were created for the import of untreated timber from Russia to Finland for industrial use," says Deputy Chief of the Border Guard Department, Marko Saareks.

The local authorities want the border crossing to remain, and hope that an international border crossing point will likely be opened in Parikkala.

According to the city, closing Inari should be avoided due to the availability of timber resources. The city believes that the possibility of expanding the timber supply zone beyond the eastern border should be preserved.

Background: The fourth international border crossing point was supposed to open in southeastern Finland in 2024. However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine put an end to dreams of internationalizing the Parikkala border crossing point.

If it is decided to close the temporary border crossing points, it will be done by protocol between the head of the Border Guard Service and his Russian counterpart.