Finland will keep its land border with Russia closed indefinitely due to continued concerns over a potential surge in asylum seekers allegedly encouraged by Moscow, the Finnish government announced Wednesday.
The Nordic country shut its 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) eastern border in December 2023 amid an uptick in asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa. Finnish authorities accuse the Kremlin of encouraging the asylum seekers to cross their shared frontier in a destabilization ploy — a “hybrid attack” Helsinki sees as Moscow’s retribution for having joined NATO.
In a statement published on Wednesday, the Finnish government said the border will remain closed “until further notice.” Asylum applications will still be accepted at Finland’s air and maritime border crossings, but not along the land border with Russia.
“Instrumentalized migration is one way that Russia can put pressure on and affect the security and social stability of Finland and the EU,” the government said. “Based on information available to the Finnish authorities, the risk that instrumentalized migration will resume and expand as seen previously remains likely.”
Authorities added that the closure will be reviewed periodically, and the restrictions could be lifted or revised if the threat to national security or public order subsides.
“If the phenomenon were to continue, it would pose a serious threat to Finland’s national security and public order,” the Finnish government’s statement read.
Last year, Finland adopted a controversial “deportation law” that allows border guards to refuse entry to asylum seekers crossing from Russia. The law, to be enforced at the government’s discretion, has drawn criticism from human rights advocates who say it may violate Finland’s international legal obligations.
Finland became a NATO member in April 2023, abandoning decades of military non-alignment and drawing condemnation from Moscow, which warned of “countermeasures.”
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