By Galina Korol | 2023-12-07

KYIV -- Finland has closed all border checkpoints from Russia to prevent what has been described as a "hybrid attack" by Russia: allowing undocumented migrants from third countries to reach the Finnish border, the Finnish Broadcasting Co. (Yle) reported.

The temporary closure went into effect November 30 and the borders will remain closed at least until December 13, the government said.

Eight border crossings allow road and other transport to pass between Russia and Finland. Only the Vainikkala station, which handles freight trains and has no facilities for admitting people, remains open.

Spike in asylum seekers

The Finnish government resorted to the radical step of closing the borders because of a sudden influx of hundreds of migrants from Russia, including inhabitants of Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Syria.

More than 800 migrants have arrived in Finland since the start of August, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told parliament on November 23.

"This is organized activity that affects our national security," he said, blaming Russian authorities for facilitating the sharp increase in the number of would-be migrants arriving at the border.

At first the government decided to close certain border crossing points in southeastern Finland and to centralize applications for international protection for three months starting on November 18, Orpo said.

However, those measures were not enough to stop the influx of those lacking valid European Union (EU) visas, according to authorities.

"On the contrary, there are increasing signs that the situation is getting worse," Orpo said.

'Shameful'

In the first six months of the year, fewer than 100 people arrived in Finland through the border with Russia. In recent weeks, almost 1,000 have arrived, mostly originating from Somalia, Syria and Yemen, the United Nations Refugee Agency reported November 24.

"People are being pushed to the border and not allowed back," Orpo said November 26 on Yle Radio 1.

"Russia shamelessly exploits citizens of third countries," he said of Moscow's efforts to destabilize Western countries, adding that the situation is turning more Finns against Russia.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto previously said Russian border guards had started allowing individuals without valid EU visas to cross the border in response to Helsinki's plans to soon sign a defense cooperation agreement with Washington, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported November 16.

Russia's assistance in bringing asylum seekers to the Finnish border is "part of a broader context," the president said, European Pravda reported December 2, citing Yle.

Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have previously faced a similar hybrid operation, he noted.

"Russia has caused this situation and is also able to end it," Orpo said in English at a news conference November 28.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Finland's move was helping to protect the EU border.

"Russia's instrumentalisation of migrants is shameful. I fully support the measures taken by Finland," she said November 16 on X, formerly Twitter.

Putin's revenge

Russia may have been planning to bring refugees from third countries even before these recent events, observers say.

Speaking on Ukrainian TV channel Espresso, Denis Pertsev, a Ukrainian expatriate living in Finland, noted that a Finnish investigation indicates a centralized effort to bring migrants to the border.

"On the Russian side there are bicycles for sale and hot tea. In Russia, illegal migrants receive offers to get into Finland for $2,000-5,000," he said.

"Unverified information indicates that such an advertising campaign was carried out in several countries, promoting the opportunity to get to the 'well-fed West,' and these people actually spent their money to buy tickets," said Alexander Khara, a diplomat and foreign policy and security analyst with the Center for Defense Strategies in Kyiv.

"In fact, they were deceived and then their lives and freedom were threatened when they were flung at this border," he told Kontur.

Those seeking entry into Finland could include Russian spies not covered by a diplomatic passport, as well as dangerous elements, including terrorists, he warned.

Allowing people to cross who could "commit terrorist attacks or further radicalize [governmental] measures currently being enacted in Europe would certainly be in the interests of Russia," said Khara.

The migrants are both Putin's revenge on Finland for joining NATO, and also his attempt to create tension in the alliance as a whole, said Taras Zhovtenko, a defense analyst at the Kyiv-based Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation.

"We see that Russia is continuing its strategy of hybrid confrontation with Western countries and with NATO member states, since Russia does not currently have enough resources to engage in a direct armed confrontation with NATO member states," he told Kontur.

Belarus script fails in Finland

The attempt to use Finland's borders to create a migration crisis is not a new tactic for Russia, said Khara, pointing to the crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border in 2021.

More than 32,000 undocumented immigrants, including many from Afghanistan and Iraq, attempted to cross the border into Poland between August and November that year.

"They actually brought these people. Then with the help of intelligence services, border guards, and criminal elements, they delivered [the migrants] to certain checkpoints, where they understood they could cross the border and instructed them on how to do this," said Khara.

Belarus has denied the accusations. Poland called it a "hybrid attack."

Russia honed its technique on Poland's borders, agreed Zhovtenko.

"[Russian officials] worked out the mechanisms," he said. "And, in principle, it's a way to artificially create, for a NATO member state, at least a crisis in its border regions and at most a point of resonance that can amplify, among other things, influence on the country's domestic situation through anti-migrant sentiment."

Finland "absolutely did the right thing" by closing the borders, Zhovtenko said.