Russia Lodges Protest to Finnish Ambassador Over Closure of Border Checkpoints

The Russian Foreign Ministry has lodged protest to Finnish Ambassador Antti Helantera over Helsinki’s decision to close border checkpoints between the countries, the ministry said on Monday.

"On November 20, the Russian Foreign Ministry held a conversation with the ambassador of Finland to Russia, Antti Helantera. The Russian side protested against the closure of the most actively used checkpoints on the Russian-Finnish state border by the Finnish authorities," the ministry said in a statement, and called Helsinki’s decision "provocative."

The ministry added that the closure of checkpoints violates rights of tens of thousands of citizens of both countries.