Migrants from the Russian side continue to attempt to cross the Finnish-Russian border crossing, despite its complete closure. This information was reported by DW.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said Finland has been facing problems on its eastern border for several weeks and blamed Russia. “They are deliberately mobilizing people from third countries and sending them to Finland and the EU.” According to Valtonen, 15 foreigners entered Finland from the Russian side last week.she called their actions “illegal” and “It’s very dangerous.” This is because the country’s unusually low temperatures and deep snow can cause difficulties.
“We should expect Russia to continue trying to destabilize Finland and Europe.” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He said he believed the current border security situation was serious and should be addressed at the European level.
“We protect not only Finland’s borders, but also the borders of the EU and NATO. When Russia uses people to wage hybrid warfare, our current laws do not allow us to counter this in accordance with human rights treaties. Enough” Valtonen pointed out:
In his assessment, there is a serious risk that migrants who enter Finland from Russia and then “disappear” within the country could be involved by the Russian government in espionage or subversive activities within the EU. There is even information in Finland that many of the immigrants sent from Russia have criminal records.
“Russia is even sending us people who have been involved in war crimes. We do not know what agreements these people have with the Russian authorities, but some of them have told the Finnish authorities that if If they were involved in war crimes, Russia would have sent them to fight in Ukraine, he said, “not across the border.” Valtonen explained.
Elina Valtonen reminded that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex has no powers to prevent migrants from crossing EU borders.
“Frontex is not providing real support to protect against Russia’s hybrid warfare. Therefore, we need to give Frontex the ability to deter illegal immigration.” urged the diplomat.
As an example, she cited Norway, which is not an EU member but can stop illegal immigration at its borders. “We all want the same thing, and we should.” said Valtonen.