The Resumed Operation of Vaalimaa and Niirala: A Closer Look at Finland's Eastern Border with Russia

2023-12-14 14:07:22

Two border crossings on Finland’s eastern border with Russia – Vaalimaa and Niirala – resumed operation on December 14.

How writes Yle publication, checkpoints will operate for a month. At the same time, Finnish authorities warned that the eastern border would be closed again in the event of an influx of asylum seekers arriving from Russia.

Journalists note that the main flow at the Vaalimaa checkpoint is still moving to Russia. By 8 a.m. on December 14, 324 people had crossed the border with Russia. 124 people arrived in Finland. Most of those crossing the border had dual citizenship or a residence permit, and none of those arriving in Finland had yet requested asylum.

Finland has begun closing checkpoints on its border with Russia due to a sharp increase in the number of migrants seeking asylum at checkpoints. At first, only a few of them were closed; on November 30, all nine points on the Finnish-Russian border stopped working.

Finnish politicians said that the Russian authorities could be behind the increase in the number of migrants. At the same time, Russian and Finnish journalists who studied migrants’ chats found no traces of any “coordinated activity” on the part of the Russian authorities to attract them to the region.