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Finland will close all land borders with Russia after Helsinki accused Moscow of deliberately orchestrating a surge in asylum seekers as part of an “influence” operation.
Following an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Finland announced that it would close Raja-Jooseppi in the far north, its last remaining border crossing with Russia, from Thursday until December 13.
Petteri Orpo, Finland’s prime minister, said the decision had been made after learning of “new information” this week that strengthened the government’s belief that Russia was deliberately sending migrants over the border.
“The phenomenon seen at the border in recent weeks must be stopped,” Orpo said at a press conference. “This is not only about the number of visitors but the phenomenon itself. This is about Russia’s influence [on] activities and we do not accept that.”
Helsinki has accused Russia of trying to destabilise Finland’s national security after nearly a thousand migrants attempted to use its eastern border crossings this month, up from just a few dozen in previous months.
Finland, which joined Nato in April, claims the rapid increase is “hybrid warfare”, a tactic used to stoke tensions and increase pressure on the country without resorting to open conflict.
Earlier this month, Finland closed its seven other checkpoints with Russia along their 1,340km border, claiming Moscow could be using the migrant traffic as cover to smuggle soldiers and criminals into the EU.
Finland’s interior ministry said the previous closures had failed to stop the traffic and the risk of more migrants attempting to cross Finland’s land borders posed “a serious threat to national security and public order”.
Under new rules, people seeking asylum in Finland must apply at airports and ports, the interior ministry added. Cargo rail traffic between Russia and Finland remains open.
Tensions between the two countries have risen since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, prompting Finland to abandon decades of neutrality and apply to become Nato’s 31st member.
Finland’s accession to the transatlantic military bloc sparked outrage in Russia, which claimed the decision would raise tensions and threatened unspecified retribution if Nato deployed additional troops to Finland.
Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, said last week that Russia “deeply regretted” Finland’s decision to join Nato and claimed Helsinki had abandoned “longstanding, very kind relations based on mutual respect”.
Russia denies orchestrating the migrant traffic. However, the claims echo previous incidents when asylum seekers travelling via Russia attempted to cross into Finland and Norway by bicycle in 2015 and 2016.
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