Finland to extend Russia border closing until February 11 News
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Finland to extend Russia border closing until February 11

The Interior Minister of Finland Mari Rantanen announced in a press briefing on Thursday that Finland has decided to prolong the closure of its border crossing points with Russia until February 11, beyond the initially scheduled end date of January 15.

The briefing states that Russia facilitated “instrumentalized migration”, which refers to intentionally creating cross-border population movements to further a country’s political purposes. Finland has expressed its concern over this since November 2023, gradually closing all eight of the border crossing points on the eastern border with Russia. While it had decided on November 16 to close four of the eight points until February 2024, it closed the remaining points for one month on December 14, including for individuals seeking asylum. Russian authorities have denied accusations of instrumentalized migration and called it regrettable. The European Parliament in December 2023 expressed its concern over the role of “state actors in artificially creating and facilitating irregular migration.”

The Thursday briefing notes that the situation at the eastern border has not changed since the closure of the borders in December and “poses a serious threat to national security and public order in Finland”, thereby justifying the extension. Further, as per information collected by the authorities, the government said that there are still immigrants waiting for the borders to open. The briefing added that the government will regularly assess the situation and the decision shall be revoked if the situation changes over time.

Finland’s relationship with Russia has markedly worsened following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which prompted Finland to abandon its decades-long policy of non-alignment in favor of the country’s security and joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 2023. As per a report by Supo, Finland’s Security and Intelligence Services, Russia perceives Finland as a hostile nation due to its NATO membership.

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