Finland closes border crossing points with Russia for another two months until April 14, 2024.
What is known about the closure of the border with Russia by Finland
The Government of Finland extended the deadline for another two months to close the border with Russia.
Thus, the border points will remain closed at least until April 14.
According to previous decisions, the shutdown was supposed to end on Sunday, February 11.
The closure was justified by the fact that Russia is transporting asylum seekers to the border in order to put pressure on Finland.
What is the situation on the Russian-Finnish border
In recent years, Finland has been preparing for the fact that Russia will send a large number of asylum seekers to the border. The Russians have already done this on the Finnish border during the migration crisis in 2015.
In November 2023, border guards began to report that many people who did not have entry documents were trying to enter Finland through the checkpoints on the southeastern border.
On November 15, the Prime Minister of Finland stated that Russia helps illegal migrants, including citizens of the Russian Federation, countries of the Middle East and Africa, enter the country. Due to this surge in illegal migration, Finland decided to close down border points on the border with Russia.
The Minister of the Interior of Finland, Mari Rantanen, called the situation at the border a threat to national security.
In January of this year, the Finnish government decided to extend the closure of the borders with Russia until at least February 11.
By the way, the Prime Minister of Finland rejected the possibility of opening the border with Russia. According to him, the problem with illegal migrants has not been solved.
