minister interior Mari Rantanen (PS) considers that the reopening of the eastern border crossing is not feasible at the moment, considering the unchanged situation on the Finnish-Russian border.
“A significant number of people are waiting on the other side of the border. Russia does not seem to have changed its behavior,” she commented at YLE A-studio on Monday.
“What did we see in December? [the re-opening] It led to ”
Finland has kept its entire eastern border closed for almost two months, but the latest decision extends the closure period until Sunday, February 11, 2024.
The Finnish government is expected to decide by the end of this week whether and to what extent the closure will be extended further. Prime Minister Rantanen on Monday avoided speculating on the length of the next shutdown, reiterating that the government is taking a series of actions primarily to ensure national security and the safety of its people.
“We will not bow to this type of pressure. Border closures will continue for as long as necessary. We hope to see an end to this type of activity, but for now we see no end to this type of activity. Is not.”
Marco SalekOn Monday, the Deputy Head of the Finnish Border Guards Division revealed on YLE Aamu that hundreds, if not thousands, of third-country nationals remain in Russia, east of the border.
“We cannot conclude that the situation is over,” he said.
However, he added that border authorities have not detected any activity near the border crossings and the border closure has not had a noticeable impact on the land borders between the border crossings. In January, border authorities recorded three incidents involving illegal border crossings, after which 33 people were detained in Finland. All have since applied for asylum in this country.
prime minister Peteri Olupo (NCP) similarly told the public broadcaster over the weekend that reopening border crossings does not seem possible in light of current information.
Anna Contura Lawmaker Los Angeles, a member of the National Assembly’s Constitutional Committee, expressed dissatisfaction on Monday with the fact that the government had based its decision on the closure in part on classified information.
“We believe it is problematic that such important social decisions are made based on material that is not subject to public scrutiny or investigation. […] It’s a real public forum,” she told YLE.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT