At midnight between Friday and Saturday, Finland sets up barriers at four of nine border crossings along the country’s 1,340 kilometer long border with Russia.
The background is that a large number of people have recently crossed the Finnish-Russian border, which serves as the EU’s external border. Many of them with deficient travel documents.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has stated that dozens of people, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, have sought asylum after help from the Russian authorities to travel to the border area.
“A serious threat”
What is happening is, according to the AP news agency, a contrast to decades of cooperation between the border authorities, to stop people without the necessary visas and passports from entering either country.
Interior Minister Mari Rantanen describes it as “a serious threat to public order and security”.
– There are clear indications that authorities in a foreign state have been important to those who illegally cross the border to Finland, she said on Thursday.
– There are several previous cases where Russia has used migrants as a kind of hybrid instrument, says analyst Hugo von Essen.
The EU country Estonia has also noticed a change. A total of 19 Syrian and Somali citizens without Schengen visas must have crossed the border into the country on Thursday, the site reports ERROR.
They were allowed to return to Russia again as none of them applied for asylum, according to Egert Belitšev, deputy head of the Estonian border forces. Interior Minister Lauri Läänemet describes what is happening as a “hybrid attack” from the Russian side with the aim of destabilizing and creating anxiety, according to ERROR.
The Police and Border Guard Board states that it is ready to close the border crossings to Russia if the pressure increases.
The Kremlin has regretted the Finnish action but has not commented on the allegations.