Finland decides to close all border crossings with Russia
Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo (Getty Images)
The government of Finland decided to temporarily close all border crossings on the Russian border, according to Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo, Yle reports.
He adds that the government's goal is to quickly take control of Russia's hybrid activities that affect Finland.
"It's about organized activity," said Orpo.
The head of the Finnish Ministry of the Interior, Mari Rantanen, clarifies that asylum applications cannot be submitted at border crossings, but can be done at ports and airports.
Orpo notes that the decision to close the eastern border will take effect on Thursday at 00:00 and will be in effect until December 13.
Finland closes border with Russia
Finland has started blocking entry from the territory of Russia because of an influx of illegal migrants. The Finnish Border Guard has prohibited entry for people traveling by bicycle through border checkpoints with Russia.
Earlier, Finnish border guards had to use tear gas when migrants attempted to illegally enter camps from Russia.
Since November 18, four border crossing points on the Finland-Russia border have been closed, and on November 22, the Finnish government decided to close almost all border crossings. Currently, only one crossing point is functioning in Lapland.
Yesterday, Orpo stated that Finland might take additional measures to stop the large number of migrants coming from Russia.
