Lapland, Kola border traffic down

It is less traffic over Salla that counts for the drop, down 7,5% compared with the same period in 2016. At Raja-Jooseppi, the northernmost checkpoint on the road between Ivalo and Murmansk, traffic was up 12,5% in second quarter.

51.944 border-crossings were counted at the two checkpoints in period from April 1 to June 30, Finnish Border Guard reports. 79% of all crossings at Raja-Jooseppi were made by Russians, while at Salla, 54% were Russians and 45% Finnish citizens. 

While border traffic is down between Finland and Russia, the Norwegian, Russian border traffic is so far this year up 16 percent, a police official at Storskog checkpoints tells in an e-mail to the Barents Observer. Over 21.000 border crossings were counted between Murmansk and Norway in June.