Finland completes 200-kilometer fence along the border with Russia

Finland has finished building a border barrier stretching roughly 200 kilometers along its frontier with Russia, the country's Interior Minister Mari Rantanen announced. Finland and Russia share a 1,344-kilometer land border, and construction of the barrier began in April 2023.

Finnish authorities have repeatedly accused Moscow of deliberately steering asylum seekers toward the shared border in order to trigger a migration crisis. Russia has denied these accusations.

A response to a changed threat

According to Rantanen, building the fence became a necessary step after the security situation in Europe was fundamentally altered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The minister also pointed to other hybrid and information operations carried out by Russia. "In such a situation, every state has a duty to look after its own security and the inviolability of its borders," she said.

Rantanen added that Finland would assess after some time whether the barrier needs to be extended even further. She stressed that the country particularly needs financial support from the European Union for its eastern member states, so that such projects could be funded from shared EU resources.

Migrants have almost stopped arriving

Since late 2023, when Finland closed its border crossings to passenger traffic, virtually no migrants have managed to enter the country via Russian territory. Nevertheless, officials in Helsinki continue to defend the decision to build the barrier. According to Finnish authorities, around 1,300 asylum seekers from third countries — mainly Syria and Somalia — arrived in Finland via Russia in 2023.

Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have faced a similar migration pressure, with asylum seekers from third countries attempting to cross their borders from Belarus, an ally of Russia.

Cost and geography of the barrier

The Finnish border fence is estimated to have cost 380 million euros (about 24.2 billion Czech crowns) and was built in several sections. The pilot stretch was erected near the town of Imatra. The longest section, around 140 kilometers, runs along the southeastern border. Another roughly 35 kilometers of fencing covers North Karelia, while an additional 25-kilometer stretch was built in Lapland and the Kainuu region.

Source: novinky.cz