Surge of Russian asylum seekers forces Finland to close border temporarily

Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Finland's government announced on Tuesday that it will completely close its border with Russia temporarily after it blamed Moscow for a surge in asylum seekers.

The influx of immigrants comes just months after Finland joined the NATO military alliance against Russia's objections. Finland officials said they were compelled to join NATO after Russia's invasion of Ukraine starting in February 2022.

On Thursday, Finland will shut down the border crossing point of Raja-Jooseppi until Dec. 13. The Finnish government said that, since August, nearly 1,000 third-country nationals have arrived in Finland from Russia without visas and asking for asylum.

"Russia is enabling the instrumentalization of people and guiding them to the Finnish border in harsh winter conditions," Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in a statement. "Finland is determined to put an end to this phenomenon."

Frontex, the European border agency, had previously announced a deployment of border guards and other staff to Finland to help bolster its border control activities because of the immigration influx.

Finland has accused Russia of stroking the border crisis for Helsinki joining NATO and supporting the West during Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Poland had turned back asylum seekers under a similar ploy by Russian ally Belarus in 2021, leading European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to accuse Minsk of creating a a "hybrid attack"on the EU.