Finland Plans to Keep Border with Russia Closed: Interior Ministry Presented Bill on May 26

Finland's Ministry of Interior has introduced a bill to extend the law on temporary measures to prevent illegal entry across the eastern border. This was reported by the ministry's press service on Tuesday, May 26, as written by «European Pravda».

The purpose of this bill is to prevent pressure on Finland through the use of immigrants. Finland's Minister of Interior, Mari Rantanen, stated: «The security situation on Finland's eastern border remains tense but stable. However, we must be prepared for rapid and serious changes. Finland intends to continue preventing illegal entry at its external border».

The country's Ministry of Interior emphasized that the threat of illegal entry at Finland's eastern border remains high, and rapid improvements in the security situation are not expected. Finnish authorities repeatedly decided to close all eight passenger crossings on the eastern border throughout 2023-2024. This was motivated by the alleged organized mass passage of migrants from third countries to the Finnish border by the Russian side.

Finland has also introduced an emergency law that allows it to reject asylum applications from migrants crossing the closed border with Russia and send them back. Finnish President Alexander Stubb considers the government's decision to keep the border with Russia closed to be correct, as it helped prevent escalation.