The decision to completely close the border is due to a sharp increase in asylum seekers from third countries trying to reach Finland from Russia.
Russia tried to create a migration crisis in the EU, but nothing happened. The Finnish authorities announced the closure of the land border with Russia from November 30 to December 13. For now, this step is only temporary, but the Finns are determined.
In the past, Finland left only one checkpoint open – Raia-Jooseppi, which is a three-hour drive from Murmansk and only open four hours a day. But in the end they closed it too.
War on migrants
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the decision to completely close the border was due to a sharp increase in asylum seekers from third countries trying to enter Finland from Russia. “Finland intends to stop this practice,” Orpo said.
Earlier, the Prime Minister suggested that such an influx of asylum seekers could be a planned action on Russia’s part.
Finnish authorities believe Moscow is sending refugees across the border in retaliation for joining NATO and expanding defense cooperation with the United States. The Kremlin denies these accusations.
According to the Finnish Border Guard, around 900 asylum seekers from countries including Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen entered Finland from Russia in November.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said “this is another example of Russia using migration as a tool to try to put pressure on other European countries.”
The EU will help
More officers from Europe’s border security agency Frontex are starting to work in Finland to support the country in the face of a hybrid Russian pressure operation involving asylum seekers.
About 50 border guards and other employees of the Frontex agency arrived in the country on Tuesday.
They start working from Wednesday 29 November. The details of the distribution of mission personnel in different sections of Finland’s eastern border were not disclosed.
Frontex believes that increased migration pressure at the Finnish border may continue for a long time.
Estonia and Norway have also stated that they are ready to close the border with Russia if necessary.
Poland will send military advisers to Finland to share its own border security experience.
Poland and the Baltic countries have suffered since the summer of 2021 and are still suffering from the fact that Belarus facilitated the arrival of illegal migrants at the EU border and they tried to cross the border with the help of the security forces of Belarus.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.