Prime Minister of Estonia calls on Finland to loosen restrictions on ferry crossings

The Estonian Prime Minister's appeal was published in the Friday edition of the largest Finnish newspaper "Helsingin Sanomat". "Dear Sanna, I am concerned... Fortunately, we do not have to choose between two important matters – work and family." – Kaja Kallas started the letter.

The head of the Estonian government thus referred to the long-standing coronavirus pandemic of its citizens, commuters to work in Finland (including, above all, motor ferry through the Gulf of Finland). According to her, the epidemic situation in Estonia has improved significantly compared to spring and there is no longer grounds for maintaining restrictions.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin replied on Friday that her cabinet would address the issue of cross-border movement next week, and restrictions between countries could be abolished "progressively".

"We have heard such promises before," the Estonian Prime Minister commented later on Friday in an interview with Finnish television.

Finland has maintained restrictive rules for entry into the country since the end of January and between Estonia and Finland only allows the necessary business movement, i.e. in critical professions, necessary for the functioning of the Finnish society. This does not include, for example, the construction industry in which many workers from Estonia are employed, and the weekly (or daily) journey to work by ferry was a common phenomenon in both societies before the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Finnish authorities, the volume of passenger traffic from Estonia to Finland (a few thousand people daily) had a significant impact on the country's worsening epidemic situation this spring.

Estonian authorities have long tried to negotiate on the abolition of restrictions. A Finnish ambassador to Tallinn has recently been called on in this case, and the head of the Estonian MFA Eva-Maria Liimets has raised the issue in the European Commission.

Finland as one of the few EU countries has maintained border controls almost since the start of the pandemic. The Finnish authorities replied to the earlier note from the EC that "restricted cross-border traffic is necessary because of the pandemic and in order to slow the spread of virus mutations".

In recent days, the Finnish government has decided to open air traffic in the Schengen area to travellers travelling on business, as the number of passengers travelling on this road is small compared to ferries and is easier in terms of, among other things, testing and control capabilities.

According to commentators, Prime Minister Kallas' appeal through Finnish media is "exceptional". "The issue at diplomatic level did not get enough publicity," said Kristi Raik, head of the Estonian Foreign Institute.

"It is paradoxical that the Prime Minister of the neighbouring country must in an open letter call on the Finnish Prime Minister to open EU borders," tweeted Professor of Political Sciences Kimmo Gronlund. According to him, Finland cannot adopt an isolation strategy, like New Zealand, for example, because it is a member of the EU. He also noted that according to the Finnish health ministry of the model and "logics", Finland would never be able to open up, as it would always have a better epidemic situation (at a lower level) than in other EU countries.

Source: PAP