Finnish authorities will close the border with the Russian Federation on the night of Wednesday, November 22. The newspaper Iltalehti and other media reported this, citing sources. The Kremlin reacted.
According to the newspaper, the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo plans to make a decision on Monday to close the remaining checkpoints on the border with Russia. It is expected that the remaining checkpoints will be closed at 00:00 local time on Wednesday.
Last week Helsinki closed There are 4 checkpoints for traffic, 4 more continue to operate. Illegal migrants have poured into Finland from the Russian Federation. Deliberate actions by Moscow are suspected, which it denies. The President of Latvia noted that the Baltic countries and Finland can jointly close the borders with the Russian Federation and Belarus. As the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said on this occasion, Moscow deeply regrets the possible decision of Helsinki:
“This causes nothing but deep regret, because we had long-standing, very good relations with Finland, pragmatic, based on mutual respect. Of course, we regret that these relations were replaced by an exclusively Russophobic position, which the leaders now began to adhere to this neighboring country. Unfortunately, this is the situation.”
He noted that Russia is unlikely to influence this situation due to the lack of dialogue with Helsinki:
“They are unlikely to be able to influence now, because there is no dialogue as such, not through our fault. Actually, we were not the initiators of curtailing the dialogue.”
Peskov also stated quotes TASS that Russia does not accept the Finnish side’s accusations against Russian border guards, commenting on the Finnish side’s statements that Russian border guards allegedly contribute to the migration influx into this country by allowing migrants to the border and not letting them back:
“In this case, I would not comment. We do not accept such accusations. Naturally, the border crossing is used by those who have the legal right to do so. In this regard, our border guards fully comply with all their official instructions.”
Earlier, following Finland, Estonia accused the Russian Federation of transporting illegal migrants to its border, as well as Germany. The Finnish Border Guard has reported an increase in the number of asylum seekers arriving at border crossings in the southeast of the country in recent days. Although usually Russian border guards did not allow people without a valid EU visa to approach the Finnish border.
Let us also recall that from November 15, Finland introduced a ban on crossing the border from the Russian Federation on bicycles. This restriction is introduced for an indefinite period. Previously, Finland announced a ban on the entry of cars with Russian license plates, but with exceptions: the ban will only apply to the entry of cars designed for less than 10 passengers.
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