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Authorities in Finland have announced that their eastern border with Russia will remain closed until further notice.
The decision has been confirmed through a statement provided by the Finnish Ministry of Interior, Schengen.News reports.
The Ministry highlighted that applications for international protection continue to remain centralised.
Over a Year of Border Closure
The Finnish authorities closed their border with Russia on December 15, 2023, over concerns that its neighbouring country was facilitating the entry of migrants to Finland.
Announcing the new decision, the statement from the Finnish government provided on April 16, says that based on the current information, the risk of the instrumentalised migration will resume and expand as seen previously remains likely.
The statement also emphasises that if the phenomenon were to continue, it would bring significant risk to Finland’s national security as well as public order.
The government also said that it will assess regularly the content as well as the scope of the recent decision.
Finnish PM Had Already Warned of an Indefinite Border Closure
In August this year, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said that his country doesn’t plan to reopen Finland’s eastern border with Russia amid concerns over instrumentalised migration.
In an interview, back then, the Finnish PM expressed his scepticism that the Kremlin would not use the border to pursue its interests.
We would need assurance that Russia is ready to cooperate based on the previous model, where both countries ensured that only people with valid travel documents arrived at border stations. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo
The Finnish government approved a law aimed at preventing irregular migration, which took effect in July 2024, with the country’s authorities stressing that the act would remain effective for about a year.
In addition to Finland, other neighbouring countries of Russia, such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, also imposed border controls with Russia in a bid to halt irregular migration and enhance national security.
Source: https://schengenvisainfo.com/news/finlands-border-with-russia-to-remain-closed-until-further-notice/
