On Thursday, December 14, the Finnish government decided to close the checkpoints on the border with Russia again: it was opened earlier that day.
This was reported by Yle, citing the words of Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen.
It is stated that immediately after the opening of the border crossing points “Vaalimaa” and “Niirala”, asylum seekers began to arrive there. During the day, more than 50 people arrived at Vaalimaa alone, mostly young men from Somalia and Syria.
“It seems to have happened exactly as we feared, that is, almost immediately there was an instrumentalized entry, pushing and encouraging people to cross the border and seek asylum,” said Finnish Finance Minister Riikka Puurra.
The situation on the Russian-Finnish border.
On November 18, Finland closed four of its eight border crossings with Russia until February 18, 2024, in response to the surge in migration. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo accused the Russian authorities of helping illegal migrants to enter the country.
On November 22, Finland announced that it was closing all border crossings with Russia, except for the northernmost one – Raya-Josepi.
Orpo said that the country’s leadership does not intend to negotiate with Russia on the situation on the eastern border until the Russian war in Ukraine is over. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also emphasized that if the flow of refugees from Russia continues, the country will take additional measures to stop this process.
On November 28, the Finnish government announced that it would close its entire border with Russia for the next two weeks to stop the flow of asylum seekers.
On December 2, Finland and the JEF defense cooperation countries stepped up surveillance of the Baltic Sea with 20 warships. The Russian Federation said that by doing so, the country is trying to achieve a direct war with Russia. The head of the Finnish Defense Ministry responded.
On December 8, the EU Border Guard sent 55 officers to monitor Finland’s border with Russia.
Subsequently, on December 12, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo announced the opening of two border crossing points on the eastern border on December 14: Vaalima BCP and Niirala BCP. Other border crossing points in the east remain closed.
