Finland’s Prime Minister Petri Orpo announced on Tuesday that his country will reopen two border crossings with Russia, after Helsinki had closed its borders with its neighbor, accusing it of orchestrating a “hybrid attack” by sending irregular migrants to the borders, according to the French news agency AFP.
Orpo stated, “The government decided today to keep the eastern borders closed except for two border crossings.” Finland will reopen the Valimaa and Nuijamaa border crossings on Thursday. Orpo noted that restrictions have been eased to assess whether “there is a change for the better.”
He added, “If the phenomenon continues, we will close these border crossings.”
In mid-November, Finland closed half of its eight border crossings with Russia, before concentrating its border crossings with Russia at the Rayakoski-Yusipi checkpoint in the north of the country.
This checkpoint was also closed by the end of November.
Since the beginning of August, around a thousand asylum seekers without proper documents, especially from Somalia, Iraq, and Yemen, have arrived at the eastern borders separating the two countries along a 1340-kilometer stretch, according to Finnish authorities.
The Finnish prime minister noted in November that the influx of migrants was “organized activity, not a real emergency,” adding that “the ease with which migrants reached the remote Rayakoski-Yusipi border crossing is evidence of that.”
At the time, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, rejected the accusations, stating, “The Finnish authorities have begun making provocative excuses, which fuel anti-Russian sentiments.”
Finland’s relationship with its eastern neighbor has been tense following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prompting Helsinki to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) led by the United States in April.
