Finnish border guards and soldiers began erecting barriers including concrete obstacles topped with barbed-wire at some crossing points on the Nordic country’s lengthy border with Russia to better control an influx of migrants, officials said Wednesday. Finland said it will close three more crossing points, leaving only one Arctic point open for migrants seeking asylum.
Quick Read
- Border Barriers Erected: Finnish border guards and soldiers began erecting concrete barriers topped with barbed wire at some crossing points on the border with Russia.
- Closing of Crossing Points: Finland announced the closure of three more border crossings, leaving only one Arctic point open for migrants seeking asylum.
- Surge in Migrant Arrivals: There has been a significant increase in migrants arriving in Finland from the Middle East and Africa, with numbers rising from a few dozen to about 600 in November.
- Security and Order Concerns: Finnish officials cited the need to maintain order and security at the crossing points as the reason for these measures.
- Kremlin’s Reaction: The Kremlin expressed regret over Finland’s decision and denied claims that Russia encouraged the influx to punish Finland for joining NATO.
- Suspicion of Russian Foul Play: The Finnish government suspects that Russian officials might be playing a role in the surge of migrants at the border.
- Response to Hybrid Warfare: Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen labeled Russia’s actions as part of its “hybrid warfare” against Finland, particularly in light of Finland’s NATO membership.
- Russian Offer to Collaborate: The Russian Foreign Ministry proposed working together with Finland to find a solution, criticizing Finland for not discussing concerns directly.
- Winter Challenges for Migrants: Migrants arriving at checkpoints in Finland’s Arctic Lapland region are facing harsh winter conditions with sub-zero temperatures.
- Demographics of Migrants: Most migrants are young men, but there are also families with children and women.
- Accusations Against Russia: The Finnish government accuses Russia of a significant change in its border control operations, allowing more migrants to approach the Finnish border.
- EU Assistance: Finland is set to receive assistance from the EU’s border and coast guard agency, Frontex, to handle the situation.
- Interpretation of Russia’s Motives: While some view the migrant situation as Russia’s retaliation against Finland’s NATO membership, the primary motive behind Russia’s actions remains unclear.
The Associated Press has the story:
Finland erects barriers at border with Russia, closes crossing points
Newslooks- HELSINKI (AP)
Finnish border guards and soldiers began erecting barriers including concrete obstacles topped with barbed-wire at some crossing points on the Nordic country’s lengthy border with Russia to better control an influx of migrants, officials said Wednesday. Finland said it will close three more crossing points, leaving only one Arctic point open for migrants seeking asylum.
Some 600 migrants without proper visas and documentation, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, have arrived in Finland in November compared to a few dozen in September and October. The arrivals include residents of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Kenya, Morocco and Somalia, border officials said.
“We need to do this to maintain order (at the crossing points) and guarantee the security of legal border traffic,” Tomi Tirkkonen, deputy commander of the Kainuu border guard district in eastern Finland, told The Associated Press.
The Kremlin has voiced regret about Finland’s decision to close the checkpoints and rejected Finnish authorities’ claims that Russia has encouraged the influx of migrants at the border to punish Finland for joining NATO.
Tirkkonen’s district monitors and surveils two of Finland’s nine crossing points on the border with Russia, which runs 1.340 kilometers (830 miles), serves as the European Union’s external border and makes up NATO’s northeastern flank.
The Finnish government decided to close four busy Russia border crossings in southeastern Finland last week over suspicions of foul play by Russia’s border officials.
Late on Wednesday, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters that measures taken on Nov. 16 “unfortunately haven’t been able to stop this phenomenon; on the contrary.”
He said the government would therefore close three more crossing points — Vartius, Kuusamo and Salla — and leave open only Raja-Jooseppi, Finland’s northernmost checkpoint with Russia.
It’s located about 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki, and will remain, as of Saturday, the only Finnish crossing point that accepts asylum applications from migrants coming from Russia.
“Undoubtedly Russia is instrumentalizing migrants” as part of its “hydrid warfare” against Finland, said Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen on Wednesday. Finland joined NATO in April after decades of military non-alignment and pragmatic friendly relations with Moscow.
“We have proof showing that, unlike before, not only Russian border authorities are letting people without proper documentation to the Finnish border but they are also actively helping them to the border zone,” Valtonen said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday that Russian authorities are ready to work together with Finnish officials to reach an agreement on the border issue. She argued that Finland should have “put forward its concerns to work out a mutually acceptable solution or receive explanation,” she said.
On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Finnish ambassador in Moscow to lodge a formal protest over the closure of the most actively used checkpoints on the border.
Some 30-70 migrants have been arriving each day at the Vartius checkpoint in Kainuu and the Salla checkpoint in Finland’s Arctic Lapland region, where winter conditions include minus 20-degree Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) temperatures and plenty of snow.
Andrei Chibis, governor of Russia’s northern Murmansk region that borders Finland, on Wednesday posted pictures of migrants in a tent near the Salla checkpoint set up by the regional authorities to let them warm themselves up, eat and drink hot tea. He described the situation as a “humanitarian crisis” and blasted the Finnish authorities, saying “foreign citizens can’t cross the border” to the Finnish side.
Most of the migrants are young men in their 20s and 30s but some are families with children and women, border guard data and photos from news outlets indicate.
The number of migrants attempting to cross into Finland is unusually high and Orpo’s center-right government has accused Moscow of deliberately ushering migrants to the Russia-Finland border zone that is normally under heavy control by Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB.
“There’s been a remarkable change in Russia’s modus operandi” in regard to migrants and their movement on the Russia-Finland border, Tirkkonen said, adding that Finland is set to get some assistance from the EU’s border and coast guard agency Frontex to deal with the situation.
Finland, a nation of 5.6 million people, joined NATO in direct response to Russia’s war with Ukraine. Many interpret Moscow’s migrant maneuvers as a retaliation against Helsinki opting to join the Western military alliance but analysts say Russia’s primary motive for such as action remains unclear.
