Tensions on the border between Finland and Russia increase. The crisis between Helsinki and Moscow reached a further stage on Wednesday (22 November) with Finland's decision to keep only one border crossing open with its neighbour, which it accuses of orchestrating a migration crisis.

Since the beginning of August, around 700 asylum seekers have entered Finland without visas through the border with Russia, which is more than 1,300 kilometres long, according to Finnish authorities.

"The government has decided today to close new border crossings. Only Raja-Jooseppi's position will remain open," Orpo told a news conference.

Finland had already closed four of its eight border crossings in the southeast of the country on Saturday in an attempt to stem the flow of undocumented migrants.

"Unfortunately, these measures have not been able to stop the phenomenon," the Prime Minister added.

"Systematic and organised action by the Russian authorities"

According to Helsinki, the Russian authorities are organizing this influx of migrants. Petteri Orpo said on Monday that it was a "systematic and organised action by the Russian authorities".

The migrants arriving at the border come from the Middle East and Africa, particularly Iraq, Somalia and Yemen, border guards said a few days ago.

On Wednesday morning, a Russian official said about 300 people were gathered in the Russian Arctic at a border crossing with Finland in hopes of crossing it.

The Finnish government considers that "it is clear that foreign authorities and other actors have played a role in facilitating the entry of people into Finland," according to a statement in which it also blames "international criminality."

The closure of the three new border crossings will take place at midnight on Thursday night and will last until December 23, the Interior Ministry said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday morning rejected Finland's accusations. "The Finnish authorities are beginning to come up with clumsy excuses, thus reviving Russophobic sentiments," she said in a statement.

A 'hybrid attack'

Relations between the two neighbours have deteriorated significantly since February 2022 and the Russian offensive in Ukraine, an attack that led Finland, worried about its own security, to join NATO last April.

The Finnish Prime Minister said that the "instrumentalisation of migration" was "a way of trying to influence the internal situation and border security in Finland and the EU". The Interior Ministry said the influx of migrants "poses a serious problem to national security and public order".

"We do not accept this type of action," stressed the Finnish Prime Minister, for whom it would be legally possible to close the entire border, but the conditions are not met.

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Monday threw his support behind Finland, calling it a "hybrid attack" comparable to the one Poland is experiencing on its border with Belarus.

Since 2021, Warsaw has accused Russia and Belarus of being behind the increase in the number of migrants trying to reach the EU via its border.

Finland's accession to NATO marked a further stiffening of relations with Moscow, which had promised to take "countermeasures" at the time. Anticipating the possibility that Russia could use migrants to influence its internal situation, Finland amended its legislation in July 2022 to launch a project to fence its vast 200km border, including barbed wire and night cameras.

Only three kilometres have been built so far, with most of this area uninhabited. The Finnish Defence Forces have been called in for reinforcements in recent days to build a temporary barrier around some crossing points.

With AFP and Reuters

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