A freezing atmosphere. This Wednesday, November 22, Finland chose to continue its confrontation with Russia, announcing that it would leave only one border crossing open with its invading neighbor. A decision that follows another last Saturday, when Helsinki had already closed four of its eight border crossing points in the southeast of the country. The last gateway to Finland from Russia is now in Raja-Jooseppi, located in Finnish Lapland, in the very north of Finland.
Why this sudden upheaval, when tensions between Helsinki and Moscow have only increased since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and more particularly since Finland’s entry into NATO on April 4? According to the Finnish government, this decision is a direct and firm response to the maneuvers of Moscow, which it accuses of letting undocumented migrants enter its territory in order to orchestrate a migration crisis on European territory.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo judged that “the instrumentalization of migration” was “a way of trying to influence the internal situation and border security in Finland and the European Union”.
According to the Finnish authorities, nearly 700 asylum seekers have entered Finland without a visa via the border with Russia since the beginning of August, a figure that is clearly increasing. Mikko Lehmus, head of the Finnish border guard unit, explained that migrants coming from the Middle East and Africa had increased in number since the end of the summer, particularly those coming from Iraq and Somalia. and Yemen. Migrants at the border say they were transported for free from their country, without the slightest idea of where they were going or what they would find there, reports FranceInfo.
50 Frontex officials mobilized
The EU reacted by showing full solidarity with Finland, a member of the Union since 1995. The European Commission had already denounced “shameful exploitation” by Moscow. This Thursday, she announced the deployment of 50 officials from the European coast and border guard agency Frontex, with the aim of “strengthening Finland’s border control activities” from next week. A “demonstration of the unitary position of the European Union against hybrid attacks against any of its members,” said Frontex executive director Hans Leijtens. in the press release.
Poland also quickly expressed itself through the voice of its Prime Minister Andrzej Duda. He affirmed this Monday that he “politically supports” Finland, seeing in this “hybrid attack” a direct comparison to that experienced by Warsaw on its border with Belarus.
A “purely Russophobic position”, according to the Kremlin
Russia obviously did not let these accusations pass without flinching. This Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he did not “accept such accusations”, assuring that “Russian border guards fully respect all their service instructions”. He also said he “deeply regretted” the Finnish decision, deploring that Helsinki had adopted a “purely Russophobic position” instead of maintaining the “very good pragmatic relations” that formerly existed with Moscow.
Beyond words, Moscow also reacted in practice. This Thursday, Russian authorities announced that they had strengthened security measures in the Murmansk region, in the northwest of the country, which borders Finland. “It was decided to establish in the Murmansk region the high alert regime and a number of additional measures aimed at ensuring the safety of our residents,” explained regional governor Andreï Tchibis, explaining that “the number of foreign nationals wishing to cross into NATO countries via our territory will increase significantly.
Because with the only Raja-Jooseppi border post open, the most northerly of all, in the absence of crossing points in the south-east, it is certain that the journey of migrants wishing to enter European territory through Russia will be announcement is now much more difficult.