After Finland closed multiple of its border crossings with Russia on the night from Friday to Saturday 18 November , the Finnish Border Guards supreme commander, Mika Rytkönen, says the situation is back under control.
The Finnish government took the decision to close the border crossings of Imatra, Niirala, Nuijamaa and Vaalimaa in the southeast of the country after a relatively large amount of asylum seekers without ID papers arrived in period of a little more than a week. According to the Fins, Russian authorities were helping, aiding or organising the move of the immigrants. Earlier the Russian authorities blocked travellers without a valid ID from moving towards the Finnish border. Asylum seekers crossed the border on foot or on bicycle, as Finland is one of the EU countries that has blocked general entry of Russian cars.
A total of 300 asylum seekers crossed the border in the past week, with 220 on Friday alone. Of the latter, a 163 passed the Russian-Finnish border on Friday alone. In the southeast only the border crossings of Salla and Vartius remain open for humanitarian reasons.
As you could read earlier on Nordicreporter.com, Finland has also started to build a long border fence with Russia. Click here to read this story. | © 2023 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com. Featuring photo by Santeri Viinamäki (CC)