Helsinki (Brussels Morning) – EU Commission President von der Leyen visited the Finland-Russia border to evaluate security concerns amid Finland’s closure of border crossings with Russia due to migrant waves. Von der Leyen highlighted the collective security responsibility of the EU.
The head of the European Commission said that Finland’s decision to shut its border crossings with Russia over a wave of migrants was a security concern for the whole 27-member coalition to consider. She is on a visit to the Finland and Russia border to assess the security situation. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pushed the remarks during a journey to the frontier, visiting a portion of the border located in the Arctic.
The main objective of the visit was for Commission President von der Leyen to discover Russia’s instrumentalisation of migration to Finland and the actions being taken to combat it. Finland’s Prime Minister Orpo and President von der Leyen flew from Lappeenranta in a Border Guard helicopter to the Imatra border intersection point and the Pelkola Border Guard station, where a fence of approximately three kilometres built as a component of a pilot project has now been taken into use. Finland’s Minister of the Interior and the Border Guard delivered an overview of the situation at the border.
How Serious is the Security Threat Perception?
“We all know how (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and his allies instrumentalize migrants to test our defences and to try to destabilize us,” von der Leyen stated. “Now Putin is focusing on Finland, and this is no doubt in response to your firm support of Ukraine and your accession to NATO.”
What Measures Are Being Taken Against Migration?
On April 4, Finland chose to extend the closure of its border crossing points with Russia “until further notice” because of what the government states is a high risk of organized migration being directed by Moscow. Finland’s government has shut eight of its nine checkpoints with Russia. The only one that remains open is committed to rail travel only, and cargo trains mainly
run through it.
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer land border with Russia, running mostly via thick forests in the south, and to the wild landscape in the Arctic north.
Is European Unity the Answer to Threats?
“This is not just about the security of Finland, but it is about the security of the European Union. We are in this together,” von der Leyen expressed after visiting the border in Lappeenranta with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. “We should be more Finnish when it comes to security.”
Von der Leyen and Orpo journeyed in a Finnish helicopter over the landscape of forests and towns on the border. In a statement given after the visit, Orpo stated that “the spring’s warmer weather increases the risk of Russia helping people illegally try to get to Finland via the land border … outside the border crossing points.”
How Does NATO Membership Affect Finland’s Security?
Most of the migrants belong to the Middle East and Africa. The vast majority of them have pursued asylum in Finland, a member of the EU and NATO with a population of 5.6 million.
Finland entered NATO in April 2023, ending decades of neutrality after the country’s collapse by the Soviet Union in World War II. In March, Sweden also became a partner of the trans-Atlantic alliance. The move dealt a major disappointment to Putin, with a historic realignment of the EU’s post-Cold War security landscape initiated by Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
