Authorities say measure is necessary to prevent Russia from using ‘instrumentalized migration’ as a destabilization tool.
On Thursday, the Finnish government announced that it will keep the full closure of its border with Russia to passenger traffic in force indefinitely to prevent Moscow from using “instrumentalized migration” as a tool of destabilization.
“According to information available to the Finnish authorities, it remains likely that instrumentalized migration would resume and intensify, as observed previously, if border crossings were reopened. If this phenomenon were to continue, it would pose a serious threat to Finland’s national security and public order,” the government stated, noting that it regularly assesses the situation to determine whether conditions exist for reopening the border.
The decision to close the eastern border has achieved its intended effect, and instrumentalized migration has ceased for the time being. However, the Finish government noted that the decision will be repealed or amended if it is no longer essential to preventing a serious threat to national security or public order.
“Instrumentalized migration is one of the ways Russia can exert pressure and affect the security and social stability of Finland and the European Union (EU),” it said.
On Dec. 15, 2023, Finland temporarily closed all of its land border crossings with Russia after the Finnish Border Guard warned of an unusual increase in the flow of asylum seekers arriving from Russia that the government described as a “hybrid attack” by Moscow.
The border closure abruptly halted the migrant flow from Russia, but Finnish authorities feared that a mass arrival of migrants could occur if border crossings were reopened. As a result, in April 2024, the government ordered the indefinite closure of the eastern border.
Shortly afterward, Parliament approved the controversial Border Security Act, which authorizes the Border Guard to prevent refugees and migrants from entering the country and to summarily return them to Russia if the government determines that the arrivals constitute “instrumentalized migration.”
The law, which has been criticized by human rights organizations, entered into force on July 22, 2024. Its initial validity period was one year, although the government later extended it through Dec. 31, 2026, and is now considering extending it even further. Finland has the longest border with Russia of any country in the European Union and NATO, stretching nearly 1,340 kilometers.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
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