Värtsilä looks deserted. Empty houses and closed stores line the streets. In the center, a large hotel complex awaits guests. The border protection zone, which can only be entered with permission, begins behind the town. A border fence can be seen along the ridge. Individual watchtowers can be seen. "The village of around 500 inhabitants has benefited greatly from the open borders in recent decades. At peak times, up to 1.3 million people crossed this border every year," explains Mika Piiroinen. Now everything is sealed off with concrete barriers and barbed wire. Closed petrol stations, restaurants and an information office with large parking lots on the well-developed road to Russia look like ghosts from another time by the roadside. The hotel owner also confirms that a large proportion of his guests came from Russia before the border closures.
“The closure of the border in 2023 was a huge blow for Värtsilä,” sums up Mika Piiroinen. “The economy in the town and the region has suffered greatly.”
He knows the development of the town very well. His family has lived and farmed here for generations. “Värtsilä was once an important industrial location in Karelia,” explains the 51-year-old. When the borders were drawn as a result of the wars with the Soviet Union, two-thirds of the municipality's territory, including the main town of Värtsilä and the industrial facilities, were transferred to the Soviet Union. In this context, Mika Piiroinen speaks of “Stalin's thumb”. He shows on the map that the otherwise straight border has a small bulge. “Stalin wanted the industrial plants.”
After 1945, the population of Värtsilä increased to around 2,000 people due to the evacuations from the “lost territories”. However, the steady exodus began in the 1950s. The remaining jobs in agriculture and forestry did not offer enough prospects Mika suspects that the population decline will even increase as a result of the closed borders.
He sits in the local parliament and is very familiar with the concerns and needs of the people and the community. Nevertheless, he does not mourn the closure of the border. He is by no means enthusiastic about the 30 years of open borders with Russia. “I never warmed to the people.” He adds: "The normal Russians are fine, but these rich Russians who came here to shop and go on vacation didn't suit me at all. I don't like it when people flaunt their wealth." He talks about high alcohol consumption and bad behavior. Yet he himself worked in Russia after the border was opened and supported road construction. "There were constant problems with corruption and theft. If you trust the state and politics, it's difficult to accept." He describes it as Finland's best decision to join NATO. “This could have happened much earlier.”
Nevertheless, Mika sees prospects for Värtsilä in nature tourism. "Because of the border, it's so quiet here that a unique bird world has developed. He talks about lakes with drinking water quality. “You can fish there and observe birds that are rarely seen anywhere else in Finland.” Ornithologists are delighted. "The image of Eastern Finland is not particularly good in the country. Everyone thinks that we are far away from everything and that the region has nothing to offer. Perhaps marketing knowledge would help us to make the region better known." And there's something else in the region's favor: “It's the safest place on earth, because we have 150 people from the Finnish Border Guard here.” He does not see this border as a threat. “It was a closed border most of the time, and now we're back to normal.”
Despite the decline in population, there is also cultural life in the small village: one evening, a large parking lot in front of a former agricultural building in the center of the village suddenly fills up. The reason is the summer theater of a local amateur theater group. Catering is offered during the interval, and after the final applause the parking lot empties again and Värtsilä is quiet once more.
