Northern Dimension to include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, the importance of the Northern Dimension has increased considerably: eight EU Member States (Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Sweden) surround the Baltic Sea, and the EU’s shared border with Russia has lengthened. Recent years have seen far-reaching changes in the geopolitical map of northern Europe. The Baltic States regained their independence in 1991. Finland and Sweden joined the EU in 1995, and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland in 2004. These events greatly increased the Northern and Baltic “presence” of the EU, and substantially lengthened the common border shared by the
Finland–Russia border difference between the checkpoints (Eastern European Time and Moscow Time), one hour in winter. On 27 December 2015, Finland blocked access for people to cross over Russian border on bicycles via and Salla. According to the Finnish Border Guard, this measure was to limit illegal immigration and ensure safety on slippery roads. The Finnish Border Guard stated that organized traffickers had their clients cross the border by biking in order to avoid being captured on the Finnish side and prosecuted for organizing illegal immigration, which is a felony in Finnish law. In response, asylum seekers started to cross the border