Finland and other states at the EU’s external borders strengthen their cooperation to prevent the circumvention of sanctions

Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland signed a joint Agreement today in Vilnius aimed at strengthening and unifying the controls of EU sanctions against Russia. The states at the EU’s external borders play a key role in preventing the circumvention of sanctions.

Finland, the Baltic States and Poland signed an Agreement on 9 May 2024 in Vilnius, Lithuania to strengthen the uniformity of regional enforcement of sanctions and the exchange of information. For Finland’s part, the Agreement was signed by Sami Rakshit, Director General of Finnish Customs.

The Agreement emphasises the need to strengthen a uniform enforcement of sanctions, the importance of information exchange and coordinated measures to address illogical transport routes. The Agreement also provides for joint measures to be imposed on manufacturers and exporters of goods in presenting additional documentation, and lists other measures aimed at addressing the circumvention of sanctions.

– From the outset, we have worked closely with states at the EU's external borders and emphasised the need for uniform enforcement of sanctions at EU level. In order to prevent circumvention of sanctions, the phenomenon needs to be tackled extensively from different perspectives in order to prevent circumvention attempts as efficiently as possible. With the Agreement we signed today, we want to demonstrate to other states and companies the importance of close cooperation for effective enforcement of sanctions, and to do our part to improve the effectiveness of sanctions, emphasises Sami Rakshit, Director General of Finnish Customs.

Lithuanian Customs' press release (9.5.2024): Poland and Finland join the Baltic Customs Initiative