I the years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 the number of border-crossings at the Borisoglebsk-Storskog border check-point, the northernmost land border between Russia and Western Europe, went up as much as 20-21 percent. So far in 2014 the increase is 7,3 percent.
During the eight first months of 2014 there have been 216.890 border crossings on the Norwegian-Russian border. This is 14.804 or 7,3 percent more than in the same period in 2013, Eastern Finnmark Police writes in a press release.
The total number of border-crossings this year is expected to reach 360.000. In 2013 the number was 320.000, in 2012 252.000.
The majority of people crossing are Russians aiming at shopping in the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes, a four hour drive from Murmansk.
More visa-free border-crossings
The visa-free border regime established in May 2012 for people living within 30 kilometers of each side of the border, has been a success when it comes to enhancing contacts across the border. Of all the border crossings so far in 2014, 43.798 were made using border certificates. Since more Russians hold multi-entry visas to Norway than vice versa, there are more Norwegians than Russians holding border certificates. In August 2014 there were 3643 visa-free crossings from Norway and 2786 from Russia.
