Gov't To Reopen Some Border Crossings w/Russia As Tensions Remain High

The Finnish gov't has confirmedthat two road border crossings with Russia will be re-opened, weeks after Helsinki closed all checkpoints to non-goods traffic as the Russian gov't used the “instrumentalization of migration” in a hybrid attack against the Nordic nation. Finland, backed up by its NATO allies, alleges that the Russian gov't facilitated the transit of asylum seekers from North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia to the Russo-Finnish border in an attempt to threaten Finnish national security and sow political discord.

• A similar tactic has been used by the Belarusian gov't in recent years, with Poland dealing with major increases in attempted inward migration on its eastern border with Belarus following the imposition of sanctions on the Lukashenko regime following the 2020 presidential election.
• Politico: "Moscow has repeatedly denied the claims, with the Russian foreign ministry saying a previous decision taken by Finland to close a number of checkpoints on the border is “unequivocally” provocative."
• The use of 'hybrid warfare' (countries utilising attacks in the cyber, political, or social sphere rather than conventional military attacks) has come into increased focus, with Finland hosting a NATO symposium on hybrid warfare today and tomorrow.