Officials from the Nordic countries said Tuesday that Finland is likely to extend the closure of its eastern border with Russia as the threat of migrant border crossings continues.
Finland last month closed The country will extend its 1,340-kilometre border with Russia until January 14, citing a sharp increase in asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa.
Helsinki has accused Russia of orchestrating the migrant crisis as part of a hybrid attack on the country, an accusation the Kremlin denies.
The Finnish government will meet this Thursday to decide next steps regarding Russia’s borders, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said. Said Finnish broadcaster MTV3.
“Might be so [that Helsinki will extend the Russian border closure until after Jan. 14]” Rantanen said.
“There doesn’t seem to be any change in Russia’s behavior,” he added.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Olpo echoed Rantanen made this prediction in an interview with broadcaster Ale.
“The information I have at the moment is that nothing has changed in Russia,” Orpo was quoted as saying.
Olpo said that at Thursday’s meeting, officials will consider both national security issues and the issue of Russian nationals living in Finland.
“The government has come to the conclusion that border security is an important issue for our country,” he said.
The Russian government has warned that if Finland reverses its long-standing non-alignment policy to join NATO in April, it will lead to “countermeasures.”