Finnish authorities to keep border with Russia closed

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has announced that the border with Russia will remain closed. This was reported by the Turun Sanomat newspaper on January 8.

"Unfortunately, the threat assessment of the eastern border remains unchanged, because of which we cannot open the border," the Finnish prime minister said at a convocation of chairmen and group leaders of all parliamentary parties in the country.

Furthermore, Orpo said that the biggest problem is the Russian shadow fleet. He also added that the EU and NATO are currently looking for ways to counter it.

Earlier on December 21, 2024, Petteri Orpo said that the border between Finland and Russia will remain closed until a way is found to conclude an agreement to open border posts. Orpo added that there is no consensus on the issue at the moment. He emphasized that Finland will open the border if Russia does not send migrants without the necessary documents.

Before that, on December 15, the organization of Russian-speaking residents of Finland "Alexander Society" held rallies in several cities of the country for the opening of checkpoints (checkpoints) on the border between the Scandinavian state and Russia. Svetlana Zhurova, deputy chairman of the State Duma (Duma) Committee on International Affairs, commenting on the situation, said that the Finnish authorities would probably not pay attention to the rallies in cities in support of opening the borders with Russia.

On November 30, a demonstration demanding the opening of the border with Russia was held by the Free Movement organization and a number of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In their opinion, the closed border endangers people seeking asylum, and Finnish politicians' words that open checkpoints (KPP) threaten the country's security, criminalize refugees and increase racism.

In November 2023, Finland closed all checkpoints on its border with Russia under the pretext of an influx of migrants from third countries. At the time, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova noted that Moscow was ready to work with Helsinki to resolve the situation.