Prime Minister Petri Orpo believes that the influx of refugees from Russia threatens Finnish national security. On Friday, only three migrants crossed the remaining open border crossing.
- Finnish Prime Minister Petri Orbo believes that the influx of refugees from Russia threatens national security
- Finland closes eight out of nine border crossings with Russia
- The government suspects that the increasing influx of asylum seekers is Russian retaliation for the country’s accession to NATO
- Latvia and Estonia are seeing an increasing influx of refugees from Belarus and point to Russia and Belarus as the driving forces.
- Finland is being criticized for jeopardizing the right to seek asylum
- Norway is ready to take measures on the Norwegian border with Russia if necessary
We want to send a clear message to Russia: This must stop.
This is what Finnish Prime Minister Petri Orpo said on Friday, after he stated that an unusually high proportion of asylum seekers had crossed the border from the Russian side.
It was announced last week that four of the country’s nine border crossings with Russia will be closed until February 18 next year. A week later, only one border crossing was opened – the Raja-Giuseppe border, located in the north of the country.
According to Reuters, more than 800 refugees have arrived at the border with Finland via Russia in recent weeks. They are from countries such as Yemen, Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria.
Finnish authorities believe the influx of refugees is Russian retaliation for the country’s recent membership in NATO.
– This is a matter of hybrid attacks, and a matter of national security, says the Prime Minister.
The government also decided on Friday that people arriving from Russia without the necessary documents should remain in observation centers until their identity is confirmed.
Interior Minister Marie Rantanen says it may be appropriate to close Raja Giuseppe as well, if necessary.
Accusations from Estonia and Latvia
Meanwhile, Latvia is seeing an increasing influx of refugees from Belarus. Like Estonia, they point to Russia and Belarus as driving forces.
We must understand that these are not just asylum seekers. Latvian Prime Minister Ivica Selina says this is a hybrid attack by Russia and Belarus.
The Russian authorities denied these accusations, and the Russian Foreign Ministry believes that the closure of the border crossings is an expression of “new dividing lines in Europe.”
President Putin’s spokesman also accused Finland of “RussophobiaRussophobia– It seems organized and seems to be ongoing, Orbo concluded.».
Concerned about the right to asylum
But on Friday, only three migrants encountered Raja-Giuseppe, according to Finnish Helsingin Sanomat (HS). They were from Yemen – and only one of them is said to have applied for asylum when they arrived at the border.
Axel Ranalli of Finnish border authorities said on Friday that asylum seekers may be coming in small groups, and that the situation at the border could change over the weekend. According to HS, there were a larger number of guards than usual at the border on Friday, and they are also receiving assistance from the armed forces and police.
The European Union is also expected to contribute to guarding along the 1,340-kilometre border between Finland and Russia from next week, to ensure that no one tries to enter Finland outside the border crossings.
The decision to keep the border crossing in the far north open only, where temperatures on Friday reached about 14 degrees below zero, sparked reactions.
The Discrimination Ombudsman in Finland is concerned that the authorities are putting your right to seek asylum at risk if you do not have real and effective access to the process.
Through international agreements, Finland is committed to protecting the right to seek asylum in all cases. Finland’s Ombudsman’s Office wrote that the right to seek asylum, the prohibition of refoulement and the prohibition of mass deportation are fundamental principles of EU law and the Finnish legal system. X.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Finnish Parliament passed an amendment to the Border Guard Act. Among other things, the change means they can temporarily close border crossings and impose restrictions on lanes and applications.
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights At the time, she asked the then Finnish Minister of the Interior to ensure that the changes would not lead to human rights violations.
Russia also borders Norway in Finnmark, and the approximately 20-mile border is monitored by both countries.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Sture (Ap) said on Friday that there are currently no abnormal conditions on the Norwegian border with Russia, but Norway is ready to take measures at the border if the situation changes.
According to Karin-Anna Eggen of the Norwegian Defense Academy, Russia also benefits greatly from allowing migrants to travel to Norway:
At the same time, Russia could benefit from closing all border crossings into Europe at some point. Finnish analyzes suggest, among other things, that Russia needs greater mobilization next year, and that it may then be useful to close the borders so that people do not flee, as millions of Russians did last time.
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