Weeks after joining the NATO military alliance, Finland is now constructing the first section of a fence on its border with Russia, reports said.
Following its NATO application, the government feared reprisal from the east and resolved to build the wall last year, mainly in case Russia attempted to flood the border with migrants.
Finland wants to prevent a recurrence of what happened in Poland in the winter of 2021, when the EU accused Belarus, a close ally of Russia, of instigating a crisis by flying in migrants from the Middle East, giving them visas, and pushing them across the border.
By the end of 2026, the Finnish barrier, which is made of steel mesh, should enclose around 200 kilometres (125 miles) of its most important border sections.
Ismo Kurki, the project manager, stated on Friday that the barrier will feature monitoring technology even if it is not meant to thwart any invasion attempts.
The frontier, which spans 1,300 kilometres, has seen relatively little human activity up to this point.
According to the Finnish Border Guard, just 30 unlawful crossings were discovered in Finland last year, whereas 800 attempts to enter Finland were blocked by Russian border guards, reported Reuters.
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Kai Sauer, Finland’s Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Security Policy, told CBS News, “We reacted to Russia, actually,” Sauer told CBS News. “It was a reaction to an action by Russia, and the action was Russia’s aggression on Ukraine.”
“If you have a big neighbor who was challenging international law, the international security architecture, and breaking international law, I think the natural reaction for smaller countries is to seek protection, and to seek it in the collective defense organization — and I would emphasize the word ‘defense.'”
“NATO is not an aggressor” Sauer added.
Finland and Sweden both formally requested NATO membership after the Ukraine war started. Sweden is expected to become the next new member later this year.
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