By AFP | 2024-03-27

HELSINKI, Finland -- Russian intelligence activities remain the biggest threat to Finland's national security, the Finnish security and intelligence service (Supo) March 26 said in its annual threat assessment.

Finland's relations with Russia soured after the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, and Moscow warned of "countermeasures" after Finland joined NATO last April and reversed its decades-long policy of military nonalignment.

Finland's eastern neighbor, with which it shares a 1,340km-long border, is treating it as an "unfriendly state, and as a target for espionage and malign influence activities," said Supo.

"While counterintelligence work, expulsions of intelligence officers and a strict visa policy enabled Finland to undermine conditions for Russian human intelligence last year, intelligence operations remain a threat," the intelligence agency said in a statement.

Critical infrastructure and the cyber environment were believed to be particularly susceptible to Russian influence and espionage operations.

In a demonstration of how exposed sensitive critical infrastructure is, an underwater pipeline in Finnish waters was damaged last year by an anchor linked to a Chinese vessel.

Supo also predicted that Russia would continue to use "weaponized immigration" to show "its dissatisfaction with Finland's NATO membership" and "the consequences of actions Russia perceives as unfriendly."

In November, Finland closed four of its eight border crossings with Russia, before shutting the rest by the end of the month, in response to a surge in asylum seekers.

Although Finland then partially eased the closure, on December 14 it once again decided to close the entire border.

Some 1,300 asylum seekers arrived in Finland via the eastern border in November, December and January, according to official statistics.

The surge in asylum seekers was orchestrated by Russia, Helsinki said, dubbing it a "hybrid attack."

"This is a long-term threat; it is an easy way for Russia to keep Finland on its toes," Supo Acting Director Teemu Turunen said.

The Finnish border is set to remain closed until at least April 14.

'Instrumentalized migration'

In the meantime, the Finnish government is preparing a bill that would enable it "to restrict the reception of applications for international protection" in limited areas.

On March 15, it said that the bill was meant to curb "instrumentalized migration," following the spike in migrant crossings orchestrated by Russia.

A draft of the legislation was sent out for comments that day, the government said in a statement.

"We have identified that our authorities need tools to control the land border," Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters.

The deadline to submit comments on the legislation was set for March 25, and the government said it wanted the proposed bill "to enter into force as soon as possible."

"The act could only be applied in situations where it is essential to combat efforts to exert influence on Finland in a way that seriously endangers our sovereignty or national security. The decision could be made proactively and for a maximum of one month at a time," the government said.

The new legislation will be temporary and will "only apply to serious incidents of instrumentalized migration," while allowing Finland to keep its border open to other traffic, it said.

"We have to be prepared that the [migrant influx] situation may worsen as spring arrives," Orpo told reporters.