Finland Closes Key Russian Border Crossings
- Flow of asylum seekers via Russia intensified this month
- Newest NATO member recently agreed on defense deal with US
A Finnish Border Guard at the border between Russia and Finland.
Photographer: Vesa Moilanen/AFP/Getty Images
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Finland will close four of its busiest border crossings with Russia after concluding that an influx of migrants from third countries was an organized operation threatening its national security.
The government is acting “decisively and quickly” to “stop this phenomenon,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters in Helsinki on Thursday. It will close the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala crossing points from midnight on Saturday for all traffic and concentrate all asylum applications at two northerly border points, with the measures in force until Feb. 18.