Dozens of migrants are at the two border posts between Finland and Russia, the Finnish border guard said, behind fences erected by Helsinki to stem migration flows that Finland believes are being instigated by Moscow.

The Finnish government blames Russia that it is pushing migrants towards the Finnish border in response to Helsinki’s decision to boost defense cooperation with the United States.

THE Finnish border guards raised fences at the Vaalimaa passes since midnight, Nuiyama, Imatra and Niirala in south-eastern Finland, where most of the traffic between the two countries is concentrated.

Despite the border crossings being closed, dozens of migrants arrived this afternoon at the Nuiyama and Vaalimaa crossingswhere they remain having lit fires to face the frost.

Finland and Russia share a 1,340 km long border line, which is also an external border of the European Union. About 300 asylum seekers, most from Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Syria, arrived in Finland this week, according to the border guard.

For now, four border posts remain open, but asylum applications can now only be lodged at the two northernmost ones.

The Kremlin announced yesterday that Finland is making a ‘big mistake’ closing border posts and that the Helsinki decision is destroying bilateral relations.

In 2021, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia accused Belarus of creating an artificial migration crisis on their borders by airlifting people from the Middle East and Africa and pushing them across the border.

The European border agency Frontex informed Reuters today that he will send officers to Finland to help guard the border.

Finland’s finance minister, who comes from the anti-immigration Finns Party, said yesterday that Helsinki is ready to close all border crossings with Russia if necessary.

The Finnish ombudsman said yesterday that for Helsinki the obligation under international treaties and European law to allow asylum seekers to seek protection remains.