HELSINKI (AP) — Finland will extend the closure of its border crossing points with Russia beyond the current April 14 deadline “until further notice” due to a high risk of organized migration orchestrated by Moscow, the Finnish government said on Thursday.
The Finnish Interior Ministry said in a statement that the Nordic country's national security and public order would come under serious threat if the estimated hundreds of third-country nationals were to continue to attempt to enter from Russia without proper documentation.
“Based on information provided by public authorities, the risk that instrumentalized migration (by Russia) will resume and expand as seen previously remains likely,” the ministry said.
Finland closed the 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) land border late last year after more than 1,300 migrants without proper documentation or visas — an unusually high number — entered the country in the three months since September, not long after Finland joined the NATO alliance.
Most of the migrants hail from the Middle East and Africa, from countries including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The vast majority of them have sought asylum in Finland, a European Union member state with a population of 5.6 million.
The Finnish Border Guard has earlier said that many migrants hold valid visas for working or studying - or have a residence permit - in Russia, which is considered a safe country.
Accusing Russia of deliberately ushering migrants to the normally heavily guarded Russia-Finland border zone that serves also as the EU’s external border in the north, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has extended the closure of checkpoints several times.
The Kremlin has denied Helsinki's claims and instead accused the Finnish government of an unwillingness to hold a dialogue on the border issue.
All eight Finland-Russia land border crossing points for people have been closed since Dec. 15. The southeastern rail checkpoint for cargo trains in Vainikkala remains open but the government said on Thursday it would close three maritime checkpoints starting April 15.
Migrants can continue to seek asylum in Finland, part of EU´s passport-free Schengen zone, at Finnish airports and harbors, the government said.
“Finnish authorities see this as a long-term situation,” Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said. “We have not seen anything this spring that would lead us to conclude that the (migration) situation has changed meaningfully.”
In addition, warmer spring weather is estimated by the Finnish government to increase the number of migrants reaching the border, putting pressure on Helsinki to find a sustainable solution.
“There are hundreds and possibly thousands of people close to Finland’s border on the Russian side that could be instrumentalized against Finland,” Rantanen said. “Instrumentalized migration is one way that Russia can put pressure on and affect the security and social stability of Finland and the EU.”
The Finnish Cabinet is currently drafting a legal act on measures to combat instrumentalized migration, including allowing the so-called pushback method in expelling migrants and asylum seekers, on the border with Russia.
Pushbacks, the forcible return of people across an international border without an assessment of their rights to apply for asylum or other protection, violate both international and EU law. However, EU members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania have previously resorted to the controversial measure when dealing with migrants attempting to enter from Belarus.
The interior ministry said the legislative proposal on migration is to be submitted to Eduskunta, or the Parliament, as soon as possible. It must have the support of a wide majority of lawmakers to pass and the proposal has already been widely debated by experts, politicians and citizens.
Earlier, the government said it had received international support for the law from the EU and other organizations.
Finland acts as the EU’s external border in the north and makes up a significant part of NATO’s northeastern flank.
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
FILE - Finnish Border Guard remove fences at the closed Vaalimaa border check point between Finland and Russia in Virolahti, Finland, on Dec. 13, 2023. Finland will extend the closure of its border crossing points with Russia beyond the current April 14 deadline “until further notice” due to a high risk of organized migration orchestrated by Moscow, the Finnish government said on Thursday, April 4, 2024. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
FILE - Finnish border guards walk at Vaalimaa border check point between Finland and Russia in Virolahti, Finland, on Dec. 15, 2023. Finland will extend the closure of its border crossing points with Russia beyond the current April 14 deadline “until further notice” due to a high risk of organized migration orchestrated by Moscow, the Finnish government said on Thursday, April 4, 2024. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
Russia said Monday it plans to hold drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons amid rising tensions following comments by senior Western officials about the possibility of deeper involvement in the war in Ukraine.
The announcement came on the eve of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration to a fifth term in office and in a week when Moscow on Thursday will celebrate Victory Day, its most important secular holiday, marking its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
The drills are a response to “provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
It was the first time Russia has publicly announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons, although its strategic nuclear forces regularly hold exercises. Tactical nuclear weapons include air bombs, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery munitions and are meant for use on a battlefield. They are less powerful than the strategic weapons — massive warheads that arm intercontinental ballistic missiles and are intended to obliterate entire cities.
The Russian announcement was a warning to Ukraine’s Western allies about becoming more deeply engaged in the 2-year-old war, where the Kremlin's forces have gained an upper hand amid Ukraine's shortage of manpower and weapons. Some of Ukraine’s Western partners have previously expressed concern that the conflict could spill beyond Ukraine into a war between NATO and Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron repeated last week that he doesn’t exclude sending troops to Ukraine, and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Kyiv’s forces will be able to use British long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia. Some other NATO countries providing weapons to Kyiv have balked at that possibility.
The Kremlin branded those comments as dangerous, heightening tension between Russia and NATO. The war already has placed significant strain on relations between Moscow and the West.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Macron’s recent statement and other remarks by British and U.S. officials had prompted the nuclear drills.
“It’s a new round of escalation,” Peskov said, referring to what the Kremlin regarded as provocative statements. “It’s unprecedented and requires special attention and special measures.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned both the French and British ambassadors.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said the nuclear exercises “contribute to increasing instability.”
“In the current security situation, Russia’s actions may be considered particularly irresponsible and reckless,” Billström told Swedish news agency TT.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council that's chaired by Putin, said in his typically hawkish fashion that the comments by Macron and Cameron risked pushing the nuclear-armed world toward a “global catastrophe.”
It wasn’t the first time Europe’s military support for Ukraine has prompted nuclear saber-rattling. In March 2023, after the U.K.’s decision to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium, Putin said he intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Ukraine neighbor Belarus.
The ministry said the exercise is intended to “increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to fulfill combat tasks” and will be held on Putin’s orders. The maneuvers will involve missile units of the Southern Military District along with the air force and the navy, it said.
The Russian announcement stirred little reaction in Ukraine, where the spokesman for the Military Intelligence agency, Andrii Yusov, said on national television: “Nuclear blackmail is a usual practice of Putin’s regime; it does not constitute major news.”
Western officials have blamed Russia for threatening a wider war through provocative acts. NATO countries said last week they are deeply concerned by a campaign of hybrid activities on the military alliance’s soil, accusing Moscow of being behind them and saying they represent a security threat.
Peskov dismissed those claims as “new, unfounded accusations leveled at our country.”
Germany said Monday it recalled its ambassador to Russia for a week of consultations in Berlin following an alleged computer hack of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones hit two vehicles Monday in Russia’s Belgorod region, killing six people and injuring 35 others, including two children, local authorities said. The area has been hit by Kyiv’s forces in recent months.
One of the vehicles was a minibus carrying farm workers, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
It was not possible to independently confirm the report.
While Ukraine’s army is largely pinned down on the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line due to a shortage of troops and ammunition after more than two years of fighting, it has used its long-range firepower to hit targets deep inside Russia.
In what has largely been a war of attrition, Russia also has relied heavily on long-range missile, artillery and drones to wreak damage on Ukraine.
The Kremlin's forces kept up their bombardment of Ukraine's power grid, with a nighttime Russian drone attack targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s northern region of Sumy. Multiple towns and villages in the region, including Sumy, lost power, regional authorities said.
Russia attacked Ukrainian targets with 13 Shahed drones overnight, 12 of which were intercepted in the Sumy region, Ukraine’s air force said.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
FILE - In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, The Russian army's Iskander missile launchers take positions during drills in Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the military will hold drills involving tactical nuclear weapons – the first time such exercise was publicly announced by Moscow. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
FILE - This photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Feb. 19, 2022, shows a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile being launched from an air field during military drills in Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the military will hold drills involving tactical nuclear weapons – the first time such exercise was publicly announced by Moscow. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
FILE - Then European Union Election Observation Mission to Myanmar chief Alexander Graf Lambsdorff speaks during a press briefing in Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015. The German foreign office says that Germany has called back its ambassador to Russia for a week of consultations, following an alleged hacker attack on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party. The ministry said Monday, May 6, 2024 that the government is taking the incident “serious.” (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)
Russian military planes fly over Red Square leaving trails of smoke in colors of the national flag during the Victory Day military parade dress rehearsal at the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. The parade will take place at Moscow's Red Square on May 9 to celebrate 79 years of the victory in WWII. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system launchers and APCs roll during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. The parade will take place at St. Petersburg's Palace Square on May 9 to celebrate 79 years since the victory in WWII. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses members of the Defense Ministry, the National Guard, the Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service and the Federal Guard Service at the Kremlin, in Moscow on June 27, 2023. Putin will begins his fifth term as Russian president in an opulent Kremlin inauguration on Tuesday after destroying his political opposition, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and consolidating power. (Sergei Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry on March 19, 2024, a Russian tank fires at Ukrainian troops from a position near the border with Ukraine in Russia’s Belgorod region. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
