Finland has completed the construction of another section from the intended 200-kilometer fence, which builds along its border with Russia. Helsinki claims that Moscow deliberately encourages the influx of migrants to the border and the fence is to prevent them from exceeding it, TASR reports on the basis of AFP report.
Finland has closed its 1340-kilometer border with Russia in December 2023 after about 1,000 migrants without visas came to this Nordic country. Helsinki claimed that such an onslaught deliberately organized Russia to destabilize the situation. Moscow denied it.
The border remains closed
The Finnish government subsequently decided in April 2024 that the border with Russia would remain concluded until further notice and confirmed its decision in this case a year later.
In response to an increase in illegal migration, Finland, in addition, began to build on the 200-kilometer, 4.5 meter-high green greens of metal mesh finished with a barbed wire last year. The first 35-kilometer section in the southeast of the country was completed in May.
Revealing a new part
On Tuesday, the local officials officially revealed the first of the eight new parts of the fence near Kuhmo in the east of the country. It is supposed to be part of the 18-kilometer second section of the fence near the Vartius border crossing, AFP Tomi Tirkkonen said from the local border guard.
“The situation on the border has changed. It is no longer stable, so we need new tools (to handle it) and this is one of them,” he said, adding that the fence is now peace on the border.
Technology and other security
In the Finnish region of Cainua, which has a 406-kilometer border with Russia, this 18-kilometer section will serve to cover several “high-risk” areas in terms of illegal migration.
A forest was cut around the new fence, while supervising the border will also strengthen sensors and cameras. “From the point of view of the border guard, this is necessary and useful,” Tirkkonen added.
The whole 200-kilometer fence should be completed in 2026, with the cost of its construction estimated at EUR 380 million.
