Russia cancels Finland's agreement. The end of cooperation
6:17 PM EDT, October 21, 2023
Russia has terminated the cross-border cooperation agreement with Finland. The agreement will cease to be in force 90 days after notifying the Scandinavian country's government - reports the newspaper "Kommiersant".
A cross-border agreement is a form of cooperation, the aim of which is to abolish restrictions resulting from the existence of national borders. Such an agreement between Russia and Finland was signed in 2012 and did not have an expiration date.
End of cooperation at the border of Russia and Finland
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree which cancels the aforementioned agreement with Finland. Now the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs must inform Helsinki, writes "Kommiersant". Once the Finnish government is notified about the Kremlin's decision, it will officially end after 90 days.
The agreement was legally supposed to guarantee cooperation of the central authorities with the border regions of Russia and Finland, as well as a symmetrical system of both countries cooperating on this issue.
Damage to the Finnish gas pipeline
On October 8, there was a drop in pressure in the undersea Balticconnector gas pipeline and a failure of the telecommunications cable connecting Finland with Estonia. Media on both sides of the Gulf of Finland reported that considering the extent of the damage, the restoration of gas transmission could take several months. Balticconnector also supplied gas to Latvia.
"The Finnish newspaper 'Iltalehti', citing Finnish security sources, said that investigators believe that the failure could have been caused by deliberate action," Reuters reported. Russia's involvement in this matter is not ruled out, but the investigation is ongoing, and Lithuania has announced an increase in the underwater surveillance of its LNG terminal.
