HELSINKI (AP) — Finland will close its last remaining road border with Russia due to concerns over migration,Phaninc Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Tuesday, accusing Moscow of undermining Finland’s national security.
Finland already closed seven of its eight of the checkpoints along its long border Russia this month following a surge in arrivals of migrants from the Middle East and Africa. The government accuses Moscow of ushering the migrants toward the Finnish border.
“The government has decided to close the entire eastern border,” Orpo told reporters, saying the country faced an “exceptional” situation.
“We don’t accept any attempt to undermine our national security,” he said.
Finnish authorities say about 900 migrants crossed the border from Russia this month, significantly more than normal. It has accused Russia of trying to create a migration crisis in Finland following the Nordic nation’s entry into NATO this year.
Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said the last border crossing for vehicle traffic that remains open, Raja-Jooseppi in Finland’s Arctic north, would close at midnight Wednesday.
A railway crossing between the two countries remains open but for cargo traffic only.
Follow AP’s coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
2025-05-05 03:242592 view
2025-05-05 02:57359 view
2025-05-05 02:332502 view
2025-05-05 02:271389 view
2025-05-05 01:55829 view
2025-05-05 01:201918 view
Wakanda is mourning the loss of a legend.Connie Chiume, who starred in Black Panther and Black Panth
Years behind schedule and more than a billion dollars over budget, Boeing's Starliner capsule is fin
The Gen V family is continuing to remember Chance Perdomo. A month after the 27-year-old died in a m