Closed Vaalimaa border check point between Finland and Russia is seen in Virolahti, Finland. Photo: Markku Ulander / Lehtikuva
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The closure of Finland’s eastern border is causing monthly expenses exceeding half a million euros, with the Customs agency alone incurring between €150,000 and €200,000 each month due to staff redeployments.
Personnel originally stationed at closed border crossings with Russia have been reassigned to Helsinki Airport, seaports, and airports in Lapland. These temporary assignments involve significant travel and accommodation costs. Approximately 250 Customs officers are currently under reassignment orders.
Sami Rakshit, Director General of Finnish Customs, said that while the staff redeployments have helped fill labour shortages elsewhere, the arrangement is unsustainable.
“This kind of assignment system cannot continue indefinitely,” Rakshit said.
The government has covered Customs’ additional costs through supplemental budget allocations.
Finland closed its eastern border in late 2023 after a surge in asylum seekers arriving via Russia. Authorities labelled the incident as “instrumentalised migration”, accusing Russia of orchestrating border crossings as a form of hybrid influence. The closure, initially temporary, was extended in April 2025 and remains in effect.
A memo from the Ministry of the Interior and a recent supplemental budget proposal from the Ministry of Finance outline the financial impact of maintaining the closure.
In addition to Customs, the Finnish Border Guard is incurring substantial costs. Between August 2023 and February 2024, the Border Guard’s additional expenses totalled €2.7 million. On average, this equates to €450,000 per month.
The expenses include training personnel for emergency scenarios, leasing maritime containers in preparation for a potential invocation of Finland’s emergency pushback legislation, and increased patrol activity.
Samuli Murtonen, head of the planning and finance unit at the Border Guard, said temporary containers are being used to prepare for the implementation of the so-called “pushback law”. Under that law, people may be denied entry to Finland in situations where another state is using migration as a form of political pressure.
The Border Guard’s wider costs over the last year have been significantly higher. From the end of 2023 through March 2024, the agency spent close to €22 million on operations linked to instrumentalised migration. These included helicopter deployments, barriers at border crossings, and the temporary rehiring of retired border guards.
In November 2024, the European Union provided €16 million in emergency funding to help Finland manage the situation. Additional funds have also been provided through national budget adjustments.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
