Finland to Close Entire Border with Russia for Two Weeks from November 29

The Finnish government has decided to temporarily suspend the operation of the last border crossing point with Russia that remained open for the next two weeks. This announcement was made by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo during a briefing on Tuesday, as reported by Helsingin Sanomat.

Orpo announced that the government has chosen to close all border crossing points with Russia, leaving only the "Raja-Jooseppi" border crossing point in Lapland operational. The closure of the crossing points will take effect at midnight on November 29 and will last until December 13.

Henceforth, applications for asylum in Finland from individuals arriving from Russia will only be accepted at ports and airports. Importantly, this decision will not affect freight rail transportation between Russia and Finland.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the reason for this decision was Russia's attempt to influence Finland's internal affairs, which Helsinki finds unacceptable. He noted that the decision was not based on specific asylum application figures but on a general assessment of the situation.

It is known that since mid-November, the number of individuals without proper documents, granting them the right to enter the EU territory, has significantly increased at the border crossing points between Russia and Finland. To counteract this phenomenon, Finland began closing its border crossing points with Russia, suspending the movement of transportation through the Vaalimaa, Nuyamaa, Imatra, and Niirala border crossing points since last Saturday.

In turn, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, in a media briefing, directly pointed to Moscow's involvement in the growing number of asylum seekers at the Finnish border. He stated this on Monday before the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of foreign ministers.

Stoltenberg noted that Russia has "brought war to Europe" and is now attempting to destabilize Western democratic countries through cyberattacks, disinformation, energy coercion, and migration.

"In recent weeks, Moscow has facilitated the arrival of migrants at the border with Finland, leading to the closure of border crossing points, and is using migration as a tool of pressure," said Stoltenberg.

According to him, NATO stands in solidarity with Finland in confronting this challenge.