Is Russia using refugees as a weapon? Finland speaks of “act of revenge”

The fronts between Finland and Russia continue to harden. In recent days, Finland has recorded an increase in migration numbers from Russia. The number of asylum seekers at the southeast border has been increasing for days, according to the Finnish authorities. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said it seemed like an “act of revenge from the Kremlin” for Finland’s announced closer cooperation with the US.

Finland records more asylum seekers from Russia: stronger border security announced

In the past, agreements between the two countries stipulated that Russian units would prevent migrants from crossing the border into Finland without valid EU visas. But now more and more illegal asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia are crossing the border into the EU country, as Finnish border officials report. Russia unlike before, enable them to continue their journey despite the lack of documents Finlandsaid Interior Minister Mari Rantanen. The government is therefore considering reducing the number of border crossings or creating central entry crossings. A complete closure of the border is also conceivable.

As Finnish border units explained to the television station “YLE” on Monday, Russia is allowing asylum seekers to cross the border on bicycles, although Finland have banned this since last week. At least in some cases, international criminal groups are involved in the entry. “I cannot imagine that border traffic will be stopped in any other way than through clear Finnish action,” said Niinistö at a press conference.

“We are now constantly and every day reminded that Finland has joined NATO. I think that this time maybe the DCA [Abkommen über die Verteidigungszusammenarbeit mit den USA, Anm. d. Red.] is the trigger for the situation.”

Kremlin rejects allegations – Federal President Steinmeier calls the situation “at least noticeable”

According to the information, 71 people without valid papers were registered at the border last week, and this Monday and Tuesday there were a total of around 60. Most of them came from the Middle East. Some spent a certain amount of time in Russia. Others were just passing through there, as they said. Prime Minister Petteri Oropo said it was clear that people had been helped to get to the border. Russian border guards followed them and transported them.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, dismissed the allegations as “absolutely unfounded.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov simply said that Moscow deeply regrets Finland’s decision to distance itself from the previously good bilateral relations.

At a joint appearance, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier supported Niinistö with the accusation that Russia was specifically helping refugees cross borders in order to destabilize states in the West. When asked whether Russia was deliberately using migration as a weapon, Niinstö explained evasively: “We know that Russia’s border authorities near the border are helping these arrivals.”

Steinmeier said that it was “definitely striking” that, in addition to the usual routes on which refugees come to Central Europe via the Western Balkans, there have recently been more frequent border crossings, particularly from Russia via Belarus and Poland to Germany. This does not make the domestic German debate about migration any easier. “I assume that in Russia and elsewhere people know very well how difficult these debates are and in countries like Finland and Germany could also trigger domestic turbulence and thus political difficulties. That’s why I suspect it’s not entirely unintentional.”

Russia and Finland share a land border that is almost 1,300 kilometers long. So far, the Finnish borders have been secured primarily with light wooden fences, which are primarily intended to keep livestock in the country. The country of 5.5 million people is currently building a 200-kilometer-long fence along part of the Finnish-Russian border.

Sources: with material from AFP and DPA