In its justification for its decision, the Finnish government stressed that it could not open the east border of the country, as Russia is likely to proceed to effort to usage it to "press and influence Finland's safety and social stableness as well as the European Union".
All crossings to the Finnish-Russian land border due to a safety threat were first closed in mid-December 2023, erstwhile a massive influx of migrants began that autumn.
At the time, more than 1,300 migrants arrived in Finland without adequate papers and mainly from the mediate East and Africa.
Finland fears extremists
According to the estimates of the Finnish services, persons who posed a threat to the safety of the country, including individuals associated with extremist groups, armed groups or who could participate in organised human trafficking, may have been among the arrivals.
In the spring of last year Finland closed, besides until further notice, border crossings with Russia in the Gulf of Finland serving water traffic. The Finnish east border with Russia is 1,343.6 km, of which the land border is 1289.6 km and in the Gulf of Finland is 54 km long.
