Finland closes border crossing point with Russia, leaving only 1 point

Throughout the past week Finland-Russia border tensions continue to escalate. Until Finland had to announce the closure of only 1 border crossing point.

Another area at risk of erupting into new tensions is the border between Finland and Russia. Especially in the days when the Ukrainian war was still going on. Because in geopolitics It marks the boundary between EU and NATO member states and Russia’s northwestern region.

Throughout the past week There are signs that border tensions between Finland and Russia continue to escalate. After Finland accused Russia of helping hundreds of illegal refugees cross the Finnish border.

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Until Finland had to announce the closure of 4 out of 8 border crossing points connecting Russia in order to stem the wave of migrants. Most recently yesterday (22 Nov.), the Prime Minister of Finland announced the further closure of the Finland-Russia border crossing. Until only 1 point remains open.

Yesterday, during a press conference, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo spoke about the ongoing wave of illegal migrants arriving from the Russian border throughout November. The Prime Minister of Finland stated that The Finnish government has decided to close the border crossing connecting eastern Finland and western Russia, it added.

This will leave only one border crossing open, out of a total of eight points along the border. That is the border crossing point. “Raja-Jooseppi” (Raja-Jooseppi), the northernmost point of Finland. and will begin closing from Friday at 12:00 a.m. local time onwards.

Before the Finnish government announced the closure of the border crossing point until there was only 1 point left on November 16 or last Thursday. Finnish authorities have announced the closure of four of the eight border crossing points connecting Finland with Russia, which are in the southeast of Finland.

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What happened at the border between Finland and Russia? Finland shares a 1,350 km eastern border with Russia, making it the longest border of any European country. between the borders of the two countries There will be a total of 8 border crossing points.

As a general rule, border crossings from Russia onto the EU border via Finland occur relatively rarely. Until the past two weeks Finland’s border guard has revealed that There has been an unusually high number of undocumented migrants passing through the EU border arriving at the Finnish border.

Throughout November, more than 600 undocumented refugees have entered Finland via Russia. As of Tuesday, 62 people had crossed the border into Finland, as usual. There will be no more than 10 refugees crossing the border in this area per month.

Most border crossings take place at the Nuijamaa and Vaalimaa border crossings in southeastern Finland. Migrants usually travel in small groups of seven to 11 people from Russia to the border by car. Then use your bicycle to cross the border into Finland. Most migrants arrive at the border from Russia by car and then use bicycles to cross the border into Finland.

Border guard Matti Pitcannity told the BBC that the refugees, mostly from countries such as Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria, had arrived legally in Russia. before entering the Finnish border without documents

Sauli Niinisto, President of Finland, said: Normally, if an immigrant does not have the correct documents to enter the EU border or does not have an EU visa. Russian border officials will refuse to allow border crossing into Finland.

But because the number of migrants has increased significantly in such a short period of time, Finnish authorities believe it is Russia’s work. and decided to close four border crossing points in the southeast at the end of last week. This was followed by yesterday’s announcement of the closure of almost every border crossing point. After refugees continued to flow to other border crossing points. northeastern finland

While Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, denied that Russia does not play a role in encouraging refugees to enter Finland’s borders.

The Prime Minister of Finland has reiterated that Russia is taking advantage of the migrant wave to undermine Finland and EU border security.

The question is, if it really is the work of Russia? What is the motivation? The Finnish president stated on Nov. 15 that this might be revenge for Finland’s plans to sign the Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with the United States.

Meanwhile, after Finland officially became a NATO member last April. Tensions between Finland and Russia have become increasingly evident. The president of Finland once said: Finland must prepare to deal with threats from Russia after joining NATO.

Estonia accuses Russia of deliberately sending migrants to Estonia’s border.

Meanwhile, in addition to Finland, another country facing the same wave of migrants is Estonia. Yesterday, Reuters news agency reported information from Estonian public broadcaster ERR that since Thursday, passed by Around 75 refugees from Somalia and Syria attempted to enter the Estonian border from the Russian border.

Using the border crossing point “Narva” connecting northeastern Estonia and western Russia. and travel in small groups of 7-11 people per group

Estonian Interior Minister Laurie Leanemets stated this to Reuters news agency. He accused Russia of going in the same direction as Finland. Russia is involved in hybrid attack operations.

in encouraging refugees to travel to the border with the United States in order to destabilize border security The Estonian Interior Minister further said that Estonia is preparing to close the border crossing as well. If there continues to be an increase in migrants trying to enter the Estonian border via Russia,

However, the Estonian Interior Ministry recently said that no migrants had submitted asylum documents. And now everyone has been deported. The Russian authorities have not yet commented on the Estonia case.

This is not the first time that an unusual number of undocumented refugees have attempted to enter EU borders. Back in the winter of 2021, some 3,000-4,000 refugees from several countries in the Middle East and Africa were stranded on the border with Belarus. Important allies of Russia and Poland including between the borders of Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia.

At that time, the European Union accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately luring migrants and refugees to travel to Belarus in order to use Belarus as a transit point. European Union border and using refugees as weapons to do so “Hybrid warfare” or hybrid warfare to destabilize the border security of the European Union

Poland has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating the refugee crisis.