Finland fears “retaliation” from Russia – in the person of asylum seekers. The country closes its border again after just hours.
Helsinki – Finland's government continues to fear an influx of migrants controlled from Moscow Russia – this is now evident in a seemingly dramatic U-turn: Shortly after carefully opening the crossings to the neighboring country, Helsinki wants to close the border again. “Because Russia has started sending asylum seekers to the border again, the government will close the eastern border again,” said Interior Minister Mari Rantanen from the hard-right True Finns party on Thursday (December 14).
Finland closes border with Putin's Russia – shortly after reopening
The Distortions had already begun in November. At that time, Finland initially closed individual border stations – amid accusations that Russia was exploiting migrants without papers as “retaliation” for its NATO membership. A good two weeks ago, Helsinki completely stopped border traffic. The country only opened two crossings again on Thursday.
Rantanen now emphasized that the fortnightly closure was “demonstrably too short”. This time they want to leave the regulation in effect for longer: it will now remain valid from Friday 8 p.m. until January 14, 2024. “Our attention is now focused on Russia’s actions,” said the Interior Minister.
According to a report from the Finnish broadcaster YLE 50 asylum seekers arrived at the Niirala border crossing in the southeast of the country on Thursday. In Vaalimaa, further south, 20 people applied for asylum. These included both men and women.
Russia worries Finland: Police send forces with experience in dealing with “crowds”
So these are comparatively small numbers. Rantanen nevertheless warned urgently. “What is happening is linked to international crime,” she explained. The associated “threat” is “a serious danger to national security and general order in Finland”.
Meanwhile, the Finnish police are taking drastic measures. Citing the Finnish police reported YLE, emergency forces from several parts of the country have been deployed to the border. These are forces with training in dealing with crowds. Police representative Marko Heikkilä explained to the station that they are usually used at football games.
Asylum seekers exploited by Russia? Role model Lukashenko
Russia harshly rejected the allegations from Helsinki in November as unacceptable. “The border crossings are used by those who have the right to do so,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. At the time, he described the Finnish allegations as “far-fetched.”
Nevertheless, there have long been fears that Russia could use European countries' concerns about immigration for targeted destabilization. A model could be the situation on the border between Belarus and the EU states Poland and Lithuania in the summer of 2021. It was said at the time that dictator Alexander Lukashenko was using migrants as a “weapon”.
The war in Ukraine and the associated political conflict between Russia and the EU are now further fueling these concerns. Last week, Estonia's border guards also spoke openly about a possible border closure. (fn)
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