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☆ Finland will close Russian border for 2 weeks to stop asylum seekers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Essi Lehto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A view of closed gates at the Raja-Jooseppi international border crossing station before its opening in Inari, northern Finland on November 24, 2023. Finland last week shut all but one of its border posts to travellers from Russia, keeping open only the northernmost crossing located in the Arctic. On Monday he said his country had intelligence information on Russian authorities assisting the asylum seekers and that despite Finnish border closures, there were still more people heading towards Finland in Russia. On Monday, only three asylum seekers arrived in Finland through the remote Raja-Jooseppi station, the last open border post, and on Tuesday there were no entrants. The border station will remain open on Wednesday before closing until Dec. 13, the government said.

Persons: Korhonen, Petteri Orpo, Essi Lehto, Terje Solsvik, Anna Ringstrom, Louise Rasmussen, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Nordic, Finnish Border Guard, Finland's Border Guard, Kremlin, NATO, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Inari, Finland, Russia, Moscow, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Helsinki, United States, Ukraine

☆ Finland to Close the Last Border Crossing With Russia for Two Weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Johanna Lemola | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Finland said Tuesday it was temporarily closing its only remaining open border crossing with Russia to stem an influx of asylum seekers that it accuses Moscow of orchestrating in retaliation for Finland’s decision to join NATO. The Finnish authorities have been raising alarms for weeks over an increased number of migrants crossing into the country to seek asylum, describing it as a Kremlin bid to sow discord. They had already closed seven of the eight crossings along Finland’s vast frontier with Russia, leaving just the Raja-Jooseppi checkpoint in hard-to-reach northern Lapland, above the Arctic Circle, open to travelers. “The government’s goal is that the exceptional situation on Finland’s eastern border is normalized as soon as possible,” he said at a news conference. “The activity witnessed on Finland’s border must end.”

Persons: Petteri Orpo, Jooseppi, ” Organizations: NATO, Kremlin Locations: Finland, Russia, Moscow, Lapland

☆ Finland plans more measures to stop asylum surge from Russia border
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Anne Kauranen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Finnish Border Guards escort migrants arriving at the Raja-Jooseppi international border crossing station in Inari, Finland, November 25, 2023. Some 900 asylum seekers from nations including Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen have entered Finland from Russia in November, an increase from less than one per day previously, according to the Finnish Border Guard. Finland blames a change in Russian border protocol for the increase and calls this a hybrid attack. Finland infuriated Russia when it joined NATO in April, ending decades of military non-alignment, due to the war in Ukraine. If this continues, more measures will be announced in the near future," Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told a press conference.

Persons: Korhonen, Petteri Orpo, Ulf Kristersson, Orpo, Jens Stoltenberg, " Stoltenberg, Anne Kauranen, Anna Ringstrom, Andrew Gray, Louise Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik, Alison Williams Organizations: Finnish Border Guards, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Finnish Border Guard, Kremlin, NATO, Border Guard, Swedish, Frontex, Monday, European Union, Thomson Locations: Inari, Finland, Russia, Moscow, Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, United States, Ukraine, Sweden, EU, Brussels, Finland's, NATO, East, Africa, Belarus, Poland, Minsk, Helsinki, Stockholm

Now, hundreds of migrants from the Middle East and Africa have appeared at Finland's border from Russia, seeking entry into the Nordic country. They accuse Russia of driving the migrants to the border to sow discord as payback for Finland's membership in NATO. Finnish authorities quickly closed four checkpoints and then three more, leaving just one Arctic crossing point open for asylum-seekers. Finland also asked for help from EU border agency Frontex, which said it would send dozens of officers and equipment as reinforcements to the Finnish border. The Kremlin denies encouraging the migrants, and says it regrets the Finnish border closures.

Persons: Elina Valtonen, Petteri Orpo, Maria Zakharova, Valtonen, Russia’s, ”, Klaus Dodds, ” Dodds, Ylva Johansson, Sauli Niinistö, Alexander Lukashenko, Evika Siliņa, Siliņa, Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, “, Geert Wilders, Orpo’s, Vanessa Gera Organizations: HELSINKI, —, NATO, Nordic, Associated Press, HOW, EU, Frontex, Russian Foreign Ministry, Royal Holloway, University of London, VU EU Home Affairs, Belarus —, Latvian, AP, Poland’s, Guard Locations: Finland, Russia, East, Africa, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Finnish, FINLAND, Helsinki, Belarus, Europe, Moscow, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Baltic, Netherlands, Finns, Lapland, Murmansk, Warsaw

☆ Finland shuts all passenger border crossings with Russia but one
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Finnish Border Guards escort the migrants at the international border crossing at Salla, northern Finland, November 23, 2023. Having last week closed four border stations, Finland overnight closed all remaining passenger crossings except its northernmost one, Raja-Jooseppi located in the northern Arctic region, for a month. Separately, the Finnish Border Guard said on Friday it expects dozens of officers from the European Union's Frontex border agency to help patrol the 1,340 km (833 mile) border with Russia from next week. "Their task will primarily be to patrol the land border under the supervision of the Finnish Border Guards and to support them," Border Security Expert Arttu Maaranen told Reuters. Estonia, like Finland, has accused Moscow of sending migrants to its border with Russia in what its interior minister called "a hybrid attack operation".

Persons: Lehtikuva, Jussi Nukari, Jooseppi, Maaranen, Frontex, Jonas Gahr Stoere, Gahr Stoere, Anne Kauranen, Victoria Klesty, Anna Ringstrom, Gareth Jones Organizations: Finnish Border Guards, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Nordic, Kremlin, Finnish Border Guard, Reuters, Estonian, NATO, Thomson Locations: Salla, Finland, Russia, Moscow, Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Helsinki, Norway, Finland's, Norwegian, Tallinn, Estonia, Oslo

Finland is closing all but one of its land border crossings with Russia, escalating a standoff between the two countries over an influx of migrants that Finnish officials blame on Moscow. Starting on Friday, only the Raja-Jooseppi crossing in northern Lapland will stay open to travelers, while all seven other land crossings will be closed. Last week, Finland closed four of the entry points. “Unfortunately, that did not manage to stop this phenomenon,” the Finnish prime minister, Petteri Orpo, said at a news conference on Wednesday night, adding that the situation at the border was deteriorating amid signs that the Russian authorities were helping asylum seekers make their way to the country. “We do not accept such activity,” he said, adding that Finland would take further measures if necessary.

Persons: Petteri Orpo, ” Locations: Finland, Russia, Moscow, Lapland

☆ Finland to close all but northernmost border crossing with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Essi Lehto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The government has today decided to close more border stations," Orpo told a press conference. Finland said Russia was letting migrants through those two crossing points by foot despite an agreement that they could only be crossed by car. "There are growing signs that the situation is worsening on the eastern border," Orpo said. Finland will shut three of the four remaining border crossing points from midnight on Friday, leaving only the Raja-Jooseppi crossing in the Arctic open. "Raja-Jooseppi is the northernmost (border crossing) and it requires a real effort to get there," Orpo said.

Persons: Petteri Orpo, Orpo, Ylva Johansson, Sauli Niinisto, Moscow's, Essi Lehto, Jacob Gronholt, Pedersen, Alexandra Hudson, Christina Fincher, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Nordic, European Union, Kremlin, Finland, Russia, Thomson Locations: HELSINKI, Finland, Russia, Helsinki, Moscow, Yemen, Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, EU, Estonia, Baltic, Finnish, Vartius, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, East, Africa

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