Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on Wednesday (Nov 22) said that his country will close all but the northernmost crossing border with Russia in a bid to control the flow of migrants.
Helsinki has claimed that the asylum seekers are being pushed into the Nordic nation deliberately by Russia.
“The government has today decided to close more border posts. Only Raja-Jooseppi station will remain open,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told a press conference.
Since the beginning of August, nearly 700 asylum seekers entered Finland without a visa over its border with Russia.
Following a surge in migrants, last week Finland shut half of its eight crossings to Russia.
“Unfortunately, these measures have not been able to stop this phenomenon,” Orpo said.
The government said that “it is clear that foreign authorities and other actors have played a role in facilitating the entry of persons crossing the border into Finland.”
“The situation also involves international crime,” the government said in a statement.
Earlier in Oct, the Finnish border guard warned of a shift in Russia’s policy as it started to allow migrants without proper documentation to cross the border.
“This is a systematic and organised action by the Russian authorities,” Orpo said on Monday.
Border crossing will be closed starting from midnight on Friday and will remain closed initially until December 23.
Russia rebuffs allegations
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has rebuffed the accusations which claimed that Moscow was pushing the migrants intentionally.
“Finnish authorities are beginning to make clumsy excuses, warming up Russophobic sentiments,” she said in a statement.
Orpo dubbed the “instrumentalisation of migration” an attempt to “influence the internal situation and border security in Finland and the EU.”
Finland’s interior ministry said Wednesday that the influx of migrants from Russia “poses a serious threat to national security and public order.”
“We do not accept this kind of action,” Orpo said.
(With inputs from agencies)
