Finland will close its last remaining open border crossing with Russia overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, accusing Moscow of orchestrating a “hybrid attack” by sending undocumented migrants to the border.
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Nearly 1,000 undocumented asylum seekers, notably from Somalia, Iraq and Yemen, have presented themselves since the beginning of August at the 1,340 kilometer long eastern border separating the two countries, according to the Finnish authorities.
“The phenomenon observed in recent weeks at the border must stop,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on Tuesday, noting that “instrumentalized migration from Russia has continued.”
Helsinki closed four of its eight crossing points with Russia in mid-November, before restricting passage to a single border crossing, the most northerly of the country in the Arctic zone, last week.
“Finland is the target of a Russian hybrid operation. This is a question of national security,” emphasized Interior Minister Mari Rantanen.
“Sometimes decisions are simply irrational,” reacted Alexander Grouchko, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, quoted by Russian agencies.
The Raja-Jooseppi border post will remain closed until December 13, she said.
Asylum seekers will have to request protection “at border crossing points open for air and maritime traffic”, that is to say ports and airports, according to a government press release.
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.
“It is not just the number of arrivals that is at issue, but the phenomenon itself,” Mr Orpo said.
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.
“Don’t come”
Last week, the Finnish government had considered closing its border but the measure was then deemed disproportionate by the authority responsible for monitoring the legality of government measures.
The border can be closed completely in exceptional circumstances but this closure must be proportionate and asylum seekers must be able to submit their application.
This closure is “necessary and proportionate”, assured the government in its press release.
Asked about the care of migrants who would be left in the cold in front of closed border crossings, Orpo replied that “without the change in policy of the Russian authorities, this phenomenon would not exist”.
“We have confidence in the judgment of the border guards and their ability to respond to different situations,” he said.
The Minister of the Interior stressed that migrants had “the responsibility to decide whether or not to come to the border”.
“Our message is clear. Don’t come. The border is closed,” she said.
Border guards stressed that migratory pressure had so far been exerted at border crossings and not along the rest of the border, in uninhabited areas.
Anticipating Moscow’s recourse to migratory pressure, Finland began to build a vast fence over 200 km but which was only completed over three kilometers.
Orpo said he hoped the situation with Russia would normalize “as quickly as possible”.
“It is in the interest of everyone, including Russia,” he added.