Finland has decided to reopen two of its temporary closed border crossing points with Russia, the country’s Ministry of the Interior has confirmed.
According to the Finnish Ministry of Interior, the Vaalimaa and Niirala border crossing points will be open for traffic starting December 14.
The two border crossing points will remain open for a month until January 14, 2024. As for the other crossing points at the eastern border, the Ministry stressed that they will continue to remain closed.
Finland will continue restrictions at the eastern border. The border crossing points will remain closed, with the exception of the border crossing points of Vaalimaa and Niirala.
Finland decided to close its eastern border entirely on November 30, and since then, the country has been keeping in place strict measures to prevent a possible migrant crisis.
During the time that all the border crossing points with Russia have been closed, no one has been able to cross the border through them. Moreover, Finnish authorities did not accept applications for international protection at these points.
While Finland has decided to open the Vaalimaa and Niirala border crossing points with Russia in a controlled manner, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo emphasised that the country will quickly impose border restrictions again if the situation starts to worsen.
We cannot tell whether things have changed for the better without lifting some restrictions. That is why, after careful consideration, we are opening two border crossing points in a controlled manner. However, we are prepared to quickly impose restrictions again. Finland will ensure its national security.
Now that the two border crossings will be open for an entire month, asylum seekers will be able to apply for international protection.
However, the Minister of Interior of Finland stressed that they would make sure that the country’s eastern border does not become a pathway for intrumentalised migration.
Finland will make sure that our eastern border does not become a new pathway for instrumentalised migration into Europe.
Finland is currently concerned about the high number of migrants that continue to remainas in Russia without having proper documentation.
The country fears that Russia might use these migrants to destablise the situation in the bloc, and for this reason, the country said that it will continue to monitor the situation at its borders closely.
While Finland keeps restrictions due to migration concerns, alarm has been raised over the rights of migrants at the Finnish-Russian border.
The Council’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, has called on Finland to react in a manner that aligns with the human rights obligations.
The same required the country to provide information on the measures that the country has taken to ensure that everyone has the right to seek asylum.
