The sanctions on Russia are a clown show.
Citing enforcement of Russian sanctions, Finland seized Russian works of art that were being returned from Italy and Japan.
“It is important that the enforcement of sanctions works effectively,” Sami Rakshit, the director of Finnish Customs’ enforcement department, said in a statement. He added, “The enforcement of sanctions is part of our normal operations and we always direct our controls based on risks.”
Russia accused Finland of stealing the art.
Russian senator Sergey Tsekov told the state-run Russian outlet RIA Novosti on Wednesday that Finland’s seizure of the artworks was “theft.”
“It seems that the whole of Europe, not only the EU and NATO, has gone crazy,” Tsekov said, according to CNN. “Now works of art belonging to Russia are not allowed to return to their homeland, to Russian museums.”
It’s possible that the Finnish government realized the absurdity of their actions, because hours later, Finnish customs officials decided to let the shipment of Russian art proceed to Russia.