Finnish parliament votes for stronger border fortifications with Russia
The Finnish parliament decided on Thursday to better secure the border with Russia. An amendment to the Border Protection Act is intended to support the construction stronger fences along the 1300-kilometer border facilitate. In this way, the Finnish border guards should be able to better respond to “hybrid threats”. to be able to, as Anne Ihanus, adviser at the Finnish Ministry of the Interior, said. The emergency law was also supplemented for this purpose.
Behind the plans is the Concern that Moscow could use refugee movements to exert political pressure on neighboring Finland, as was the case recently at the border between Belarus and Poland. In such a case, border crossings on the border with Russia should also be closed and collection points for asylum seekers set up.
Finland and Sweden broke with their traditional military neutrality in May because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and applied for NATO membership. In June, the government in Helsinki also announced that it would better secure the border with Russia. So far, the border has primarily been protected by light wooden fences, which are primarily intended to keep animals away.
A “solid fence with a real barrier effect” is now planned, as explained by Sanna Palo, head of the legal department at the Finnish border guard. In all likelihood, however, the fence will not cover the entire border, but only crucial points. (AFP)