15 december 2023 — 14:00
Finland will close all checkpoints on the border with Russia again from 21:00 Moscow time on December 15 to January 14 next year, RBC reports, citing statements by Interior Minister Marie Rantanen.
The Finnish government decided to close the border with Russia on December 14, the same day that two checkpoints resumed operation — "Vaalimaa" (from the Russian side it corresponds to "Torfyanovka" in the Leningrad region) and "Niirala" ("Vartsila" in Karelia).
The reason was the appearance of asylum seekers at the border immediately after the opening of the checkpoint. Helsinki explained the decision to completely close the border at the end of November with a large number of refugees without the necessary documents.
"We can say that the number of arrivals in the morning is already several dozen people," Rantanen said.
The Finnish side accused Russia of organizing the influx of refugees from the Middle East and Africa. The Russian government rejected these accusations, explaining that it cannot control the arrival of migrants from third countries to the Finnish border.