Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen (PS) smiled leaving a press conference in Helsinki on Thursday, 14 December 2023. Rantanen said the border closure has no intrinsic value for the government, assuring that the measure was taken simply in an attempt to safeguard national security. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)
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THE FINNISH GOVERNMENT has decided to close all border-crossing points on the border between Finland and Russia as of 8pm on Friday, 15 December.
The decision was made at an extraordinary government session yesterday, less than a day after the government re-opened the border-crossing points of Niirala in Northern Karelia and Vaalimaa in Kainuu.
The entire border is thereby to remain closed until 14 January.
Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen (PS) on Thursday said at a news conference that the decision was made in response to migrants returning to the border faster than expected, a development she interpreted as evidence of an ongoing hybrid campaign by Russia against Finland.
“We’ve seen that illegal immigration at the eastern border continued immediately,” she was quoted saying by Helsingin Sanomat. “This is an indication that Russian authorities are continuing their hybrid operation against Finland. Finland won’t tolerate that.”
Officials from the Finnish Border Guard on Thursday reported that a total of 121 people had arrived at the border by yesterday evening, 93 of whom at Niirala and 28 at Vaalimaa.
Rantanen added that it is regrettable that the decision also disrupts the life of people who travel across the border to see members of their family. She assured, though, that the government would not resort to such a measure unless it was deemed appropriate from the perspective of national security.
“It’s clear that immigration has continued with the assistance of a foreign state,” she remarked.
She also revealed that the government decided to close the entire border for four weeks because the two-week closure that ended yesterday appears not to have had the desired effect.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
