Finland
Finland is to close the last open border crossing with Russia, according to the Finnish government on Tuesday. The border will be closed to all traffic except freight traffic and will remain closed until at least 13th of December, Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said. After two weeks, the decision will be reviewed. The decision was taken at an extraordinary government meeting on Tuesday. It comes after around 900 asylum seekers have arrived at the Fenno-Russian border from the east in recent weeks. The government’s assessment is that this is “instrumentalised immigration”, it writes in a press release.
“Russia uses people as tools and directs them to Finland’s border in harsh winter conditions. Finland is acting to put an end to this,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said, according to YLE. “The Russian operations on Finland’s eastern border include international crime and human trafficking,” the interior minister said. Figures showed earlier this month that migrants from a wide range of countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Somalia are showing up at the Finnish border. Finnish authorities accuse Russia of helping migrants to the border. Russia rejects the claim. /ritzau/