Finland will close its last remaining open border crossing with Russia, accusing Moscow of orchestrating a migration crisis, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo announced.
The closure of this crossing point, located in the north of the country, will take place during the night from Wednesday to Thursday and will last until December 13, said Interior Minister Mari Rantanen during a press conference.
“The phenomenon observed in recent weeks at the border must stop,” said the Prime Minister, noting that “the instrumentalized migration from Russia has continued.”
Nearly 1,000 undocumented asylum seekers have presented themselves at the eastern border separating the two countries since the beginning of August, according to the Finnish authorities.
“Finland is the target of a Russian hybrid operation. It is a question of national security,” underlined the Minister of the Interior.
Last week, Helsinki restricted the crossing of its border with Russia to a single point, that of Raja-Jooseppi in the north of the country.
This influx of migrants “is an organized activity, not a real emergency”, according to the Prime Minister.
“The ease with which migrants reached the remote Raja-Jooseppi border crossing is proof of this,” he added.
Relations between the two neighbors have deteriorated considerably since February 2022 and the Russian offensive in Ukraine, an attack which led Finland, worried about its own security, to join NATO in April 2023.
Moscow then promised to take “countermeasures” after this accession.