Finland will close its entire border with Russia over migrant concerns
World
Finland will close its entire border with Russia over migrant concerns
HELSINKI (AP) — Finland said Tuesday it will close its last remaining border crossing with Russia amid concerns that Moscow is using migrants as part of “hybrid warfare” to destabilize the Nordic country following its entry into NATO.
Finland already had shut seven of the eight checkpoints on its 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia this month following a surge in arrivals of migrants from the Middle East and Africa. Helsinki has accused Moscow of ushering them toward the frontier — through thick forests in the south to the rugged Arctic landscape in the north.
“The government has decided to close all the crossing points on the entire eastern border,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters, saying Finland faced an “exceptional” situation that the government blames on Moscow for orchestrating.
“Finland has a profound reason to suspect that the entry (of migrants) is organized by a foreign state. This deals with Russia’s influencing operations and we won’t accept it,” Orpo said bluntly. “We don’t accept any attempt to undermine our national security. Russia has caused this situation and it can also stop it.”
The complete closure announced Tuesday is due to last for at least two weeks, after which one crossing point may be reopened, the Finnish government said.
The Kremlin denies encouraging migrants to enter Finland and says it regrets the Finnish border closures. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova argued last week that Helsinki should have instead tried to “to work out a mutually acceptable solution or receive explanation.”
Finnish authorities say some 1,000 migrants without visas or valid documentation have arrived since August at the normally heavily controlled border, which makes up a significant part of NATO’s northeastern flank and acts as the European Union’s external border in the north.
Of that number, about 900 of those coming to Finland’s border with Russia arrived this month, an unusual increase for the country of 5.6 million, the Finnish authorities said. The asylum-seekers are from countries that include Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, they said.Most are young men in their 20s and 30s, but some are families with children and women, border guard data and photos indicate. Many of them were dressed in sneakers and light outdoor gear. Nearly all arrived at the border zone on bicycles that Finnish and Russian media reports say were provided and sold to them.
