HELSINKI, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Dozens of migrants stood behind barriers at two crossings on Finland's border with Russia on Saturday, the Finnish Border Guard said, after Helsinki erected barricades to halt a flow of asylum seekers it says was instigated by Moscow.
Despite the closure, dozens of migrants arrived on Saturday afternoon at the Nuijamaa and Vaalimaa crossings, and lit a campfire in sub-zero temperatures behind razor-wire barriers mounted by border guards, Finnish Border Guard told reporters.
Four regular border crossings remain open for the time being, but asylum can now only be sought at two of those, in Salla and Vartius, further north, the Border Guard said.
On Saturday, 67 people arrived to seek asylum at the Vartius post, the local border guard unit said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Kremlin on Friday said Finland was making a "big mistake" by closing down border crossings and that Helsinki's move was destroying bilateral relations.
Persons:
Mika Rytkonen, Jouko Kinnunen, Moscow's, Riikka Purra, Anne Kauranen, Attila Cser, Kevin Liffey, Terje Solsvik, Ros Russell
Organizations:
Finnish Border Guard, Kremlin, YLE, Finland, Border Guard, Twitter, MTV, Union, Frontex, Friday, Reuters, Finance, Finns Party, Thomson
Locations:
HELSINKI, Russia, Helsinki, Moscow, United States, Finland, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Salla, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, East, Africa, Nuijamaa, London