Finland fortifies its border with Russia

The Finnish government has announced that it will keep in place the total closure of its border with Russia to traffickers "until further notice", in order to prevent Moscow from using the massive influx of refugees from third countries as a tool of destabilisation.

"According to information available to the Finnish authorities, there remains a risk that instrumentalised migration may resume and expand, as it has done in the past. If it were to continue, this phenomenon would pose a serious threat to Finland's national security and public order," the government stated in a communiqué.

The Nordic country closed all its land border posts with Russia on 15 December 2023, after border guards reported an unusual increase in the flow of asylum seekers from Russia, which the government attributed to a "hybrid attack" by Moscow. The border closure has helped to stop the flow of migrants from Russia, but Finnish authorities feared a massive influx of migrants if they reopened the border crossing points.

In April of the previous year, the executive therefore decreed the indefinite closure of the eastern border. Shortly afterwards, Parliament passed the controversial border security law, which authorises border guards to prevent refugees and migrants from entering the country and to send them back to Russia.

(MH with AmBar - Source: Agency - Photo: © Unsplash)