Why is Finland closing crossing points along its Russia border?
| Helsinki
Finland will close four crossing points on its long border with Russia to stop the flow of Middle Eastern and African migrants that it accuses Moscow of ushering to the border in recent months, the government said Nov. 16.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said the southeastern crossing points 鈥� Imatra, Niirala, Nuijamaa, and Vaalimaa 鈥� will be closed at midnight Nov. 17 on the Finland-Russia land border that serves as the European Union鈥檚 external frontier.
It runs a total of 1,340 kilometers (832 miles), mostly through thick forests in the south, all the way to the rugged landscape in the Arctic north. There are currently nine crossing points, with one dedicated to rail travel only.
鈥淥perations of the Russian border authorities have changed,鈥� Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters, adding that the four crossings would remain closed until Feb. 18.
He referred to dozens of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, who have arrived in the Nordic nation over recent days without proper documentation and have sought asylum after allegedly being helped by Russian authorities to travel to the heavily controlled border zone.
This represents a major change, since Finnish and Russian border authorities cooperated for decades in stopping people without the necessary visas or passports before they could attempt to enter either country.
Finnish authorities said this week that Russia has in recent months started allowing undocumented travelers to access the border zone and enter crossing stations where they can request asylum in Finland.
The Finnish Border Guard says migrants have in the past days arrived mainly from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Turkey, and Somalia, and nearly all have arrived at the border zone on bicycles that Finnish and Russian media reports say were provided and sold to them.
Most of them used Russia only as a transit country to enter Finland and the EU, officials said.
Some 280 third-country migrants have arrived in Finland from Russia since September, border officials said Nov. 16.
In a post on social media platform X, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said 鈥淩ussia鈥檚 instrumentalisation of migrants is shameful. I fully support the measures taken by Finland鈥� and thanked the Finnish Border Guard 鈥渇or protecting our European borders.鈥�
Finnish President Sauli Niinist枚 on Nov. 15 linked Russia鈥檚 actions to Finland鈥檚 NATO membership in April after decades of military non-alignment, a move that infuriated Moscow, which has threatened Helsinki with retaliatory measures several times.
He noted that Finland, which joined the Western military alliance in the wake of Moscow鈥檚 attack on Ukraine in Feb. 2022, must be prepared for 鈥渃ertain malice鈥� from Russia.
鈥淵es, we鈥檙e constantly being reminded [by Moscow] that Finland has joined NATO,鈥� Mr. Niinist枚 told reporters during a visit to Germany.
Finland鈥檚 Foreign Ministry announced last month that the country of 5.6 million has concluded a deal on a new bilateral defense agreement with the United States. Among other things, the so-called DCA pact allows Washington to send U.S. troops and to store equipment, weapons, and ammunition in agreed locations in Finland.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Nov. 15 when asked about Finland considering the closure of the border crossings that Russian authorities 鈥渄eeply regret that the leadership of Finland chose the path of deliberate distancing from the previously good nature of our bilateral relations.鈥�
Neighboring Norway, which has a 198-kilometer-long (123-mile-long) border in the Arctic with Russia, said it had so far not recorded a comparable increase in border traffic from Russia at the sole crossing point at Storskog.
鈥淲e are following the situation closely, and it may be appropriate for us to close the border at short notice if necessary,鈥� Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl told Norwegian news agency NTB.
Meanwhile, authorities in Russia鈥檚 Baltic neighbor Estonia, a NATO and EU member, said that eight Somali migrants attempted to enter the country from Russia without proper documents in the border city of Narva on Nov. 16.
Estonia鈥檚 Interior Minister Lauri L盲盲nemets said the migrants were likely helped by the Russian authorities who transported them to the border zone.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unlikely that these Somali citizens came up with all this [idea] on their own. They shouldn鈥檛 be able to cross the Russian border without the proper rights,鈥� he said, adding that the African migrants were directed back to Russia鈥檚 territory.
Estonia鈥檚 Police and Border Guard Board said later Nov. 16 it was ready to close all border crossing points between Estonia and Russia if necessary.
This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽AP writer Daria Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark contributed to this report.
