Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that it was ending a cross-border agreement between Moscow and Helsinki. The sudden move follows accusations from Finland that Russia is stirring up a migrant crisis on the border between the two countries.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had “terminated” a 2012 agreement between Russia and Finland on “promoting cross-border cooperation”, without providing further details. The agreement aims to “contribute to the expansion of friendly relations between the peoples of the two countries and develop long-term cross-border cooperation between the two countries.”
However, in October, Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Finland’s ambassador, Antti Herantela, and announced that Russia would abandon the agreement, citing “Finland’s confrontational actions against Russia and discrimination against Russian nationals based on their nationality in the issuance of entry visas.” I told Helsinki about this. ”
Tensions between the two neighbors have been tense since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Finland and Sweden applying to join NATO. Finland joined in April last year, but Sweden is waiting for Hungary’s approval before officially joining the alliance.
In December, Helsinki accused Moscow of provoking the migrant crisis by directing asylum seekers to remote areas and allowing them to enter the territory without valid travel documents, but Russia said the decision was “clearly provocative”. “It was clearly an attempt,” he said. To make our relationship even worse. ”
In the same month, President Vladimir Putin told Russian state television that “there will be problems with Finland” and accused NATO of “dragging” Helsinki into the alliance.