Finland has announced that it will close its entire border with Russia to travelers for the next two weeks in an effort to stem the unusually large influx of asylum seekers to the Nordic country, which the government and its allies blame on Moscow.
Finland closed all but one of its border posts to Russian travelers last week, leaving only the northernmost crossing in the Arctic open; however, the government announced that this, too, would now close.
According to the Finnish Border Guard, 900 asylum seekers from Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen entered Finland from Russia in November, up from less than one per day previously.
The decision to shut all eight border crossings means only cargo trains can pass between the two countries, Finland’s Border Guard said.
Helsinki, however, claims that Moscow is directing people toward the border as payback for Helsinki’s decision to step up defense cooperation with the US; the Kremlin disputes this claim.
According to a report, Finland’s decision to join NATO earlier this year—ending decades of military non-alignment—infuriated Russia because of the conflict in Ukraine.
“We reject this influence operation by Russia,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stated at a press conference.
On Monday, he said that despite the closure of the Finnish border, more people were still traveling from Russia to Finland, and that his nation possessed intelligence on Russian authorities aiding the asylum seekers.
Report says on Monday, only three asylum seekers arrived in Finland through the remote Raja-Jooseppi station, the last open border post, and on Tuesday there were no entrants.
The border station will remain open on Wednesday before closing until December 13, according to the government.
Last week, Finland’s ombudsman for non-discrimination stated that the remote location of Raja-Jooseppi raised concerns that Helsinki was jeopardizing the right to seek asylum.
