Finland Cancels Decision to Close Border with Russia

The Deputy Minister of Justice of Finland, Mika Pumalainen, who has provided a legal assessment of the government’s legislative proposals to tighten restrictions at the border with Russia, has halted these proposals, the country’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported on Tuesday.

“The Deputy Minister of Justice has evaluated the draft decision (on border restrictions), the draft memorandum, and the secret document presented today from the perspective of legality monitoring, and based on the documents, there are no legal grounds for further preparation of the decision with the proposed content,” Pumalainen’s statement, obtained by the newspaper, stated.

He believes that the government’s bill to further tighten movement at the border with Russia does not provide sufficient guarantees that the decision will maintain the real and effective possibility to seek international protection guaranteed by the constitution, EU legislation, the European Court of Human Rights, and other human rights.

The Finnish government aims to completely close all border crossing points with Russia due to the uncontrolled arrival of refugees, and the Finnish ministry must also prepare for possible retaliatory actions from Russia, the newspaper noted on Tuesday.

Previously, the Finnish cabinet announced that due to the deterioration of the migration situation and the uncontrolled arrival of refugees from Russia, it was decided to completely close the border crossing points closest to St. Petersburg from November 18.

As of February 18, 2024, four of the eight crossing points are closed, while the remaining open crossing points are located in northern Finland, with only two operational—“Vartius” and “Salla”—accepting asylum applications.

On Friday, IltaLehti reported, citing sources, that the Finnish Ministry of the Interior is preparing bills to completely close all border crossing points with Russia.

On Sunday, Finland's Minister of the Interior Maria Rantanen confirmed data regarding the preparation of further restrictions.

The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, while speaking about the closure of Finnish border points with the Russian Federation, stated that the Russophobic stance now being adhered to by the leaders of this neighboring country is deeply regrettable. Peskov, in response to accusations directed at Russian border guards, said they are following all orders, “the border is crossed by those who have the legal right to do so,” and Moscow does not accept far-reaching accusations.

Moscow does not rule out that the Finnish authorities may fully close the border with Russia, but they believe that in this case, Helsinki would harm its own interests, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told journalists.