Finland has completed a 200km fence along sections of its eastern frontier with Russia, a barrier designed to deter Moscow from “instrumentalising” migrants in an effort to destabilise the Nordic nation.
Helsinki shut its entire 1,340km land border with Russia in December 2023 after more than 1,300 undocumented migrants arrived without visas.
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Since then, the frontier has remained largely quiet, with only a small number of isolated illegal crossings reported.
“Today, it is calm but tense, and we really don’t know about tomorrow,” Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said at a media event near the Nuijamaa crossing in southeastern Finland, where border operations were halted almost three years ago.
Chief of the Border Guard Vice Admiral Markku Hassinen addresses the media
Rantanen stood beside a section of the 4.5m-high barbed-wire barrier, which has been installed in strategically important locations and fitted with cameras and sensors.
In 2023, Finland accused Russia of waging “hybrid warfare” by directing nationals from third countries towards its border. The Kremlin rejected the allegation.
The dispute emerged only months after Finland ended decades of military non-alignment and joined NATO in April 2023.
‘Keep people out’
“This is one part of our border security and it is helping us for surveillance, but also keeping people out of Finnish territory if needed,” Rantanen said.
Finland’s Border Guard said the “exceptionally extensive infrastructure project” involved about 1,000 landowners and hundreds of companies.
Fencing is seen along the border earlier today
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have also built comparable barriers, as has Poland, along their borders with Belarus in an effort to prevent migrants from crossing.
The Finnish fence cost €356m to build, while annual maintenance is expected to run between €2m and €3m, according to Border Guard project manager Erkki Matilainen.
Although drone technology has advanced rapidly, a physical barrier remains “viewed as the best solution for crowd control,” Matilainen said.
Read more:Is Russia’s alleged hybrid war on EU a genuine threat?
Finland’s land border crossings with Russia will remain closed “until further notice.”
Last week, the government in Helsinki proposed extending its Border Security Act until 31 December 2028. The temporary, one-year law allows border guards to turn away asylum seekers in certain circumstances.
Known in Finnish media as the “pushback border law”, it can be invoked for one month at a time in restricted areas when Finland’s sovereignty and national security are considered under threat.
Experts have warned that the legislation conflicts with Finland’s international human rights obligations and constitution, concerns the government has acknowledged.
