Finland closes all border crossings with Russia except the far north

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finland will close all crossing points on its border with Russia except the northernmost crossing point from midnight on Friday, Prime Minister Petri Orbo said on Wednesday, in an effort to stem the flow of asylum seekers into the northern European country.

Since the beginning of the month, more than 600 people without valid EU travel documents have arrived in Finland via Russia, prompting Helsinki to close several crossings and accusing Moscow of transporting migrants. The Kremlin denies this charge.

Orbo said in a press conference, “The government decided today to close more border stations.”

The asylum seekers come from a range of countries including Yemen, Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria, according to immigration authorities.

A spokesman for the European Union’s border agency Frontex said it plans to deploy officers and equipment to Finland next week in response to a request from Helsinki.

EU Migration Commissioner Ylva Johansson said on Tuesday that Finland had requested 60 officers from Frontex in addition to the 10 already stationed along its 1,340-kilometre border with Russia.

Earlier on Wednesday, Estonia accused Russia of engaging in a “hybrid attack operation” to bring migrants to its border, after 75 migrants – mostly from Somalia and Syria – tried to enter from Russia since last week.

The Baltic country said it was prepared to close border crossings if migration pressures from Russia rose, and to deal with migrants if they tried to enter outside the official crossings.

The Finnish border guard said on Wednesday that unauthorized entry continued at crossing points with Russia and moved north along the border to Vartius and Sala, two border stations still accepting asylum applications.

Finland said Russia was allowing migrants to pass through the two crossing points on foot, despite an agreement that they would only be allowed to cross by car.

“There are increasing signs that the situation is deteriorating on the eastern border,” Urbo said.

Finland will close three of its four remaining border crossing points as of midnight on Friday, leaving only the Raja-Giuseppe crossing in the Arctic open. All other crossings will be closed until December 23, also for Finns wishing to enter Russia.

“Raja Giuseppe is the northernmost (border crossing) and getting there requires a real effort,” Urbo said.

He added that the government will seek to amend legislation that prevents it from completely closing the borders.

President Sauli Niinistö said on Monday that repatriating people who do not meet asylum criteria has become impossible and called for an EU-wide solution to stop uncontrolled entry into Europe’s Schengen area without passports.

The Kremlin said on Monday that it had lodged an official protest against the partial closure of Finland’s borders, saying the decision reflected an anti-Russian stance.

In 2021, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia accused Belarus, a close Moscow ally, of artificially creating a migrant crisis on their borders by airlifting people from the Middle East and Africa and trying to push them across the border – an accusation Belarus has repeatedly denied.

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