The Finnish Border Guard has published new images of the billion-dollar fence to be built against Russia.
On social media, the fence has received stinging criticism.
– A complete joke, says professor and border researcher Jussi P. Laine to the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat.
Earlier this spring, Finland broke ground on the new fence to be built on the border with Russia. The fence, which costs 380 million euros (about 4.2 billion Swedish kronor), is intended, among other things, to protect Finland against migrant flows that Russia might conceivably send across the border.
The fence will also prevent deserting Russian soldiers who want to escape the war in Ukraine from entering the country illegally.
When the fence is ready, it will cover roughly a fifth of Finland’s 130-mile-long border with Russia.
“Fence for a dog park”
On Friday, the Finnish Border Guard published new images of the project. The pictures have received harsh criticism from people who think the fence is too small and too silly.
“It would be suitable as a fence for a dog park. Otherwise it’s a joke,” writes one user on Twitter.
“I could get by with nail scissors,” writes another.
Jussi P. Laine, professor and border researcher at the University of Eastern Finland, is also critical of the fence. A few weeks ago he visited the area to get a picture of the first version of the fence.
– A complete joke, he says in an interview with Finnish Ilta-Sanomat.
The answer: Is not yet clear
He says that the fence resembles “a playground fence” and that the project images that the Border Patrol published earlier this year do not match the results.
At the same time, he emphasizes that he understands that the fence is not yet completely finished, something that the Border Guard themselves also point out.
“The fence shown in the picture is not yet complete and we will update with more pictures on social media as construction progresses,” they write in a response to a critical user on Twitter.
Photo: Border Guard Service