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PM Closes Some Border Crossings w/Russia Amid Increased Migrant Flow

FINLAND

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has confirmed that he will close some border crossings with Russia amid an uptick in migrant flows through the crossing points. Four border crossings will be closed completely until February 2024, with all traffic halted. Orpo claims that the flows are a "severe threat to national security", and that the asylum seeker inflow "has been an organised operation."

  • Orpo raised the issuein an address on 14 November, claiming that "It is clear that these people are helped and they are also being escorted or transported to the border by [Russian] border guards,"
  • Over the summer, Poland made the same accusationaimed at Russia and Belarus, claiming that Moscow and Minsk were intentionally funneling asylum seekers to their border in an effort to destabilise the country.
  • Tensions between Helsinki and Moscow have escalated over the past year, with Finland's accession to NATO almost doubling the length of Russia's borders with NATO member states.
  • Orpo leads a four-party right-leaning gov't including the right-wing nationalist Finns Party and Orpo's own centre-right National Coalition Party. As such, hard-line measures on both combating migration and standing up to Russia are likely to further embolden the PM's position within his own Cabinet.

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