Finland authorities are accusing Russia of "instrumentalization of immigrants" after Helsinki's decision to cooperate with the U.S. regarding defense and security.
Helsinki also claimed that Moscow is responsible for flooding its borders with migrants from the Middle East and Africa. There were as many as 300 migrants from Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and Syria who arrived in Finland this week.
Alleged Instrumentalization of Immigrants
The arrivals prompted Finnish officials to erect barricades at the border with Russia in an attempt to stop the asylum seekers from crossing freely into the nation. On Friday, authorities ordered razor-wire barriers to be put up around midnight at the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra, and Niirala border posts in southeast Finland.
Border authorities also noted that the barriers would be improved after two people breached them and crossed into Finland. The migrants in question come mostly from the Middle East and Africa and arrived in the region without proper documentation.
They have sought asylum after allegedly being helped by Russian authorities to travel to the heavily controlled border zone. Almost all of the migrants arrived at the border zone on bicycles that Finnish and Russian media reports said were provided and sold to them, as per Fox News.
On the other hand, Moscow has denied all of the allegations that it was responsible for the flood of migrants into Finland's borders. In a statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian authorities "deeply regret that the leadership of Finland chose the path of deliberate distancing from the previously good nature of our bilateral relations."
The situation comes as the Finland-Russia border serves as the European Union's external frontier and stretches for a total of 832 miles. It runs through mostly thick forests in the south and reaches the rugged landscape in the Arctic north.
In a statement, the Finnish Border Guard's head of international affairs Matti Pitkaniitty said that their aim is to use the barrier devices to prevent entry by immigrants. He added that the measures were a response to changes in Russia's border policy.
Finland Accuses Russia
Helsinki claimed that Moscow has encouraged or turned a blind eye to undocumented migrants crossing over. Earlier this week, Finland officials announced that they would close four border crossings, which are considered to be the busiest points of travel between the two nations, having roughly 3,000 people crossing every day, according to Aljazeera.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo noted that in the middle of Russia's war on Ukraine, Moscow was trying to destabilize Helsinki's territory in response to its decision to join NATO. Finland's decision to join the global military alliance was supported by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
On Tuesday, Orpo said that it was clear that the immigrants were being helped and that they were also being escorted or transported to the border by border guards. The situation comes after thousands of migrants flew to Russian ally Belarus in 2021 before crossing into European Union member states Poland and Lithuania.
At the time, EU officials accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of trying to destabilize the bloc. This was allegedly by facilitating the passage of third-country citizens into the 27-member bloc, said BBC.
