Since 2023, Helsinki has been constructing sections of border fencing to protect the country from incursions by irregular migrants allegedly sent by Moscow to destabilize the European nation.
Finland has completed construction of its expansive fence along its eastern border, the Finnish Border Guard announced yesterday (September 7).
The border fence, which consists of a 4.5-meter-high fence and a technical surveillance system runs about 200-kilometers along its eastern border to prevent irregular border crossings from Russia.
The project was started in pilot areas in Imatra and Salla in 2023, with the actual construction taking place from 2024 to 2026 in Nuijamaa, southeast of Finland, along the border it shares with Russia. The effort is aligned with the Finnish government's proposal in May to pass temporary measures to address what it referred to as "instrumentalized migration" --- or migration facilitated with the aim of destabilizing the northern European country and the EU --- from Russia.
The Nuijamaa border crossing is one of nine land border crossings between Finland and Russia.
"The state’s most important duty is to see to the safety of its nationals. The eastern border fence is a necessary part of an effective border surveillance system in these unpredictable times," Minister of the Interior, Mari Rantanen, said in a statement.
Finnish authorities have been bolstering their border control capabilities and closed new migrant routes by constructing new fences and deploying more guard patrols, drones and electronic detectors along sections of its border with Russia.
"The eastern border fence is necessary in the current security situation. Without the border fence, it is not possible to control instrumentalized migration in an efficient and credible manner ensuring occupational safety," Chief of the Finnish Border Guard, Vice Admiral Markku Hassinen, said.
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In the run up to the implementation of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum in June, Finland's Security and Intelligence Service (SUPO) launched new measures to tighten security screening processes. The project plans to create a new information system that will allow data collected from people entering Finland to be automatically compared against information already held by SUPO.
Under the so-called Migration Pact – Data Integration and Use in Screening (MIS) project, Finland will create new systems and digital tools to bolster security checks on people arriving in Finland, including asylum seekers.
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