The Finnish Ministry of the Interior will prepare proposals to restrict entry from Russia, said Finnish Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen on November 14.
According to her, the number of illegal immigrants arriving from the Russian side without the necessary documents has increased recently. Finnish authorities specified that this concerns individuals from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Turkey. Over the past weekend, 34 people sought asylum in Finland, 39 on the previous Monday, and over 20 in the first half of Tuesday.
Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Finland has consistently tightened entry rules, primarily for tourists from Russia. Since the end of 2022, Finland has banned the entry of Russians on short-term Schengen visas for tourism purposes, including transit to other EU countries. However, returning to Russia through Finland is still allowed.
As of September 16, cars with Russian license plates fell under EU sanctions. Since November 9, major border crossings, such as "Imatra" ("Svetogorsk" on the Russian side), "Nuiamaa" (border checkpoint "Brusnichnoye"), and "Vaalimaa" (border checkpoint "Torfyanovka"), have stopped admitting cyclists entering Finland. Finnish authorities explained this prohibition with the increasing number of arrivals in the country.
