Since the beginning of last August, about 700 asylum seekers have entered Finland without a visa through its eastern border.
Prime Minister Petteri Orbo said in a press conference: “The government decided today to close more border crossings. Only the Raya-Yosepi crossing will remain open.”
After witnessing a rise in the number of migrants seeking asylum on its eastern borders in November, Finland last week closed half of its eight crossings with Russia.
Orbo added: “Unfortunately, these measures were not able to stop the phenomenon.”
The government said: “It is clear that foreign authorities and other actors played a role in facilitating the entry of people crossing the border into Finland.”
She continued in a statement: “The situation also relates to an international crime.”
Earlier in October, Finland’s border guards sounded the alarm about a change in Russia’s policy, after the latter began allowing migrants without proper documents to cross the border.
“This is a systematic and organized action by the Russian authorities,” Urbo said Monday.
The Finnish Prime Minister described the “exploitation of migration” as an attempt “to influence the internal situation and border security in Finland and the European Union.”
The border crossings will be closed starting Friday and will remain closed until December 23.
For her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova rejected the accusations, saying, “The Finnish authorities have begun to provide clumsy excuses, which leads to inflaming anti-Russian sentiment.”
Finland’s relationship with its eastern neighbor has soured in the wake of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, prompting Helsinki to join the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April.
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