Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Finnish political parties agreed to build a wall on parts of the border with Russia.
Construction of the first section is to start as soon as authorities allocate funds, according to The Guardian reporting on Wednesday.
The Finnish Border Guard proposed the idea in September, with Yle broadcaster noting that representatives of parliamentary parties agreed to support the project at a meeting with Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Tuesday evening.
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia and authorities are becoming increasingly concerned about the possibility of illegal crossings as Russian men flee the country to avoid partial mobilisation.
Another concern is that Moscow could follow in Belarus’ footsteps and weaponise illegal migration.
“We were in agreement about the need,” Marin noted after meeting with representatives of political parties and added “now the government will bring concrete proposals to parliament.”
Importance of border control
She added that MPs will vote on proposed funding for the first section of the barrier in early November. “We want to ensure our Border Guard has sufficient support to carry out appropriate and effective border control, and we need to be prepared for any disruptive situations,” Marin added.
According to the Border Guard’s proposal, Finland is to build the wall along roughly 20% of its border with Russia. It is to be equipped with sensors and cameras, and topped with razor wire.
The Border Guard estimates it would take up to four years to complete the project, which it noted could cost several hundred million euro.
Pekka Haavisto, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs, noted that Turkey is delaying approval of Finland’s NATO membership application, stressing that this puts the entire Nordic region in jeopardy.
Turkey previously announced it would not approve Finland and Sweden’s applications until the countries extradite Kurdish terrorists.
Commenting on the border barrier, Haavisto pointed out that parts of the border with Russia are more vulnerable to potential influx of illegal migrants.
He added that roughly 40,000 Russian citizens entered Finland since the start of the war in Ukraine and noted that courts will determine whether asylum should be granted to those who do not want to go to war.
“There might be grounds for seeking asylum on the basis that the conscript was not willing to commit human rights abuses in the Russian army,” he concluded.
