Finland will extend for another month the closure of checkpoints on the border with Russia.
This was the Prime Minister of Finland Peteri Orpo in an interview with the Finnish social broadcasting body Yle.
According to the head of the Finnish government, which has been available to Helsinki data “enough” to make such a decision.
“According to my information, nothing has changed in Russia. I think the risk of threat has not changed either,” the politician noted.
Orpo noted that additional actions are needed to ensure the security of the country.
The border will not be open until there are “obvious signs and threats” that Russia will continue the military operation in Ukraine, the head of the Finnish government said. Orpo added that assessments of the government’s decision relative to the border continue.
It is expected that the government will make a new decision regarding the eastern border in the coming days.
What happened?
After several weeks of tension between Finland and Russia, due to refugees, which Helsinki calls the “hybrid operation” of Moscow, on November 28, 2023, the Finnish side announced the temporary closure of the land border with the Russian Federation.
Orpo announced that from December 14, 2023, the country will again open two checkpoints on the border with Russia. We are talking about the VAALIMAA and NIIRALE checkpoint.
Later, Helsinki said that the eastern border was closing at 20 hours (21:00 Moscow time) on December 15 until January 14.
Although, on December 15, 2023, the border posts were opened for a short while, later the Finnish authorities reported that the border was closing again until January 14 due to the flow of migrants.