Originally Posted by
4GSM
The US embassy in Vienna states that is is illegal to enter/leave the EU with a US passport if you are a EU citizen:
http://austria.usembassy.gov/mobile//passports.html
You are lucky you were able to leave without being required to obtain a Finish passport. I have heard of people being stranded in Poland for months because they were born there and considered a citizen, but did not have Polish travel documents. They had to obtain citizenship certificates and then apply for passports. I believe you were also lucky that the US embassy intervened - they really did not have to, because you were a national in your home country.
And by the way, every country treats foreigners different than their own citizens. Have you seen the lines at JFK for visitors?
Are you saying this applies to all EU citizens or just Austria and Poland? Mr. Fink and I are both Italian citizens (he was born in Italy and it is so noted on his Canadian passport) but we have never used our Italian passports to enter or leave Italy. We always just travel with our Canadian passports amd have never had an issue. Is this country specific?