The Finland government has decided to remove Algeria and Australia from its list of third-country residents eligible to enter the country, after the latest epidemiological assessment, which points out the two no longer meet the criteria set by the government.
The decision was taken on July 23 during a meeting of the government, throughout which was also decided to reimpose internal border controls with Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Since July 13, the residents Algeria, Australia, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, and China have been eligible to enter the territory of Finland, in line with the recommendation of EU Council’s published on June 30.
However, the list has been narrowed down upon further evaluation of the epidemiological situation in these countries.
With the updated list “eligible countries are South Korea, Georgia, Japan, China, Rwanda, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay and New Zealand.”
“From now on, traffic between Finland and these countries is allowed without restrictions. However, in the case of China, the Council’s recommendation requires the Council of the EU to confirm that reciprocity is sufficiently achieved,” the decision of the government reads, pointing out that in the case of Algeria and Australia, restrictions on external border traffic will, therefore, be tightened again.
Since July 13, return traffic to Finland and other essential traffic has been permitted at the external borders. Transit traffic has also been allowed at airports, and family members of Finnish citizens can now enter the country regardless of nationality.
The entry of berry pickers at the invitation of companies is permitted too, via both internal and external border traffic. The entry of berry pickers from Thailand is possible according to the country quota previously allocated to Finland. The Thai authorities announced earlier that Finland’s quota is 3,000 pickers.
If the epidemic situation so permits, the Government will review its decisions on border traffic restrictions in two weeks’ time and, if necessary, make new decisions.
