Finland keeps border with Russia closed “until further notice”
Finland will keep all the checkpoints on its eastern land border with Russia closed until further notice, the Interior Ministry announced in a press release on Wednesday.
The government gradually closed the eastern border in stages in late 2023 — eventually shutting every checkpoint along the frontier in December of that year — amid suspicions that Russia was purposely pushing migrants to the checkpoints to put pressure on Finnish authorities.
“Based on information available to the Finnish authorities, the risk that instrumentalised migration will resume and expand as seen previously remains likely. If the phenomenon were to continue, it would pose a serious threat to Finland’s national security and public order,” the statement said.
Last week, Finnish Parliament began considering a government proposal aimed at extending the border security act, via the continuation of a so-called “pushback” law.
The legislation allows Border Guard officers to bar entry to would-be asylum-seekers if they are sent to the border as part of Russia’s hybrid pressure tactics.
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This story is posted on the Barents Observer as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organisations.
