Migrants from the Russian side continue attempts to cross the checkpoints on the Finnish-Russian border, despite their complete closure. This information was reported by DW.
Finland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elina Valtonen, stated that Finland has been facing problems on its eastern border for several weeks and accuses Russia of "deliberately mobilizing people from third countries and sending them to Finland and the EU." According to Valtonen, 15 foreigners entered Finland from the Russian side last week. She termed their actions "illegal" and "extremely dangerous" as they could face difficulties due to the exceptionally low temperatures and deep snow in the country.
"We should expect that Russia will continue to try to destabilize Finland and Europe," said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She described the current border security situation as serious and believes it should be addressed at the European level.
"We protect not only the Finnish border but also the borders of the EU and NATO. When Russia uses people to wage hybrid warfare, our current laws are insufficient to counter this according to the Convention on Human Rights," noted Valtonen.
In her assessment, there is a serious risk that migrants who have entered Finland from Russia and then "disappeared" in the country could be engaged by Moscow for espionage or subversive activities in the EU. Finland even has information that many migrants sent by Russia have a criminal past.
"Russians even send us people who were involved in war crimes. We do not know what agreements these people have made with the Russian authorities. But some of them have told the Finnish authorities that Russia would have sent them to fight in Ukraine if they had not crossed the border," Valtonen explained.
Elina Valtonen reminded that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, does not have the authority to prevent the crossing of EU borders by migrants.
"Frontex does not provide us with real assistance in protecting against Russia's hybrid war. Therefore, it is necessary to give Frontex the ability to prevent illegal entry into the country," urged the diplomat.
As an example, she mentioned Norway, which is not an EU member but can stop illegal migrants at the border. "We want the same, and we should have it too," stated Valtonen.
