Finland Plans Border Wall With Russia to Stop Migrant Crossings

Finland's prime minister Sanna Marin said on Tuesday that she believes there's "wide support" within the Finnish parliament for the construction of a fence in the country's eastern border with Russia that has been called for by the Finnish Border Guard.

Under the proposal made by the Finnish Border Guard, Finland would build a fence along part of the 830-mile-long border the country shares with Russia, the longest of any member of the European Union.

The total proposed border fencing will cover approximately 80 and 161 miles, with the main section being located around the border control posts in southeastern Finland.

A 1.86-mile trial section of the fence will be built quickly, according to reports, while a final decision on the building of the entire fence will likely be left to the next government in 2023.

The project should be completed within three to four years and it is estimated that will cost hundreds of millions of euros, according to an estimate by border officials.

At the moment, only a light wooden fence marks the border between Finland and Russia. But hostility has grown between the two countries following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Finland has abandoned its decades-long military non-alignment to seek NATO membership, and Helsinki fears Moscow might use migration to exert political pressure on Finland.

The proposed fence would stand to prevent large-scale immigration into the country from Russia, a prospect that has suddenly materialized after Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent military call-up.

In late September, the Finnish government announced it was closing its borders to Russians traveling for tourism or transiting to the country "until further notice" after an estimated 17,000 Russians crossed the border into the country while fleeing the military draft at home.

"It is a question of securing proper surveillance of Finland's [eastern] border in the future," Marin told reporters after a cross-party meeting to discuss the proposal on Tuesday.

"We want to ensure that we have sufficient support for our border guard force to carry out effective and appropriate border control. In addition, we need to be prepared for any disruptive situations," she added.

The building of the new fence was allowed by a new law passed by the Finnish parliament in July, when it approved the strengthening of fences along Finland's border with Russia.

"Due to the political activity and pressure by the Finns Party, the Finnish parliament passed necessary legislation in the summer, which allows the temporary closure of the eastern border and suspension of the asylum process," Finns Party chair Riikka Purra told Newsweek.

"These measures are primarily directed against possible Russian hybrid operations, where illegal migrants are escorted en masse to the Finnish border by Russian authorities," she added. "To effectively guard Finland's eastern border, certain sections of the frontier should be protected by a fence, border barriers and other technical measures. All other bordering states already have fences against Russia."

Since the beginning of the war, Finland has strongly condemned the Russian invasion of its neighboring country and supported Ukraine's independence and sovereignty.

Since Finland and Sweden announced their intention to join NATO, Russia has been threatening the two countries saying there would be "serious military and political consequences" if they joined the alliance.

"The Finnish Defence Forces is following the security situation in Europe very thoroughly and we have taken measures regarding our preparedness, for instance, increased the amount of exercises and level of refresher training for our reservists," a spokesperson for the Finnish Defence Forces told Newsweek, adding that the military cannot provide more details regarding their operational measures or their level of preparedness to the media.