International Child Custody Battle Involves Finland, Russia

Staff Writer, May 13, 2009

International child custody battles often make headlines, because the jurisdiction is often difficult to determine and parents may be driven to extreme lengths, such as kidnapping and smuggling to get their children back into their home country.

Recently, a child by the name of Anton was removed from his home in Russia by his father, a Finnish citizen. The boy had moved to Russia with his mother in 2008, but his father traveled overseas to take him back. The boy was smuggled back into Finland in the car of a Finnish consular official.

Russia has sent a note inquiring about the transfer of the child. It asked for more information and for an explanation about how Finland feels about the incident. The note was delivered to the Finnish Foreign Ministry by a representative from the Russian Embassy in Helsinki.

The Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said that Finland will reply to the note in time, but that because the country receives several similar letters each month, it will not consider the note to be a serious concern.