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Speaking at a press conference, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the Finnish Government plans to open two border gates, Vaalimaa and Niirala, on the border with Russia from December 14.
On December 12, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo announced that the country will reopen two border gates in the border area with Russia, after closing the border in November to prevent a wave of migrants.
Speaking at a press conference, Prime Minister Orpo stated that the government has decided to close the eastern border, except for two border crossings. Specifically, the Finnish government plans to open two border crossings in Vaalimaa and Niirala, southeast of the country, from December 14.
Mr Orpo said the restrictions were eased to assess the situation and if there was no improvement, Finland would close the two border crossings again.
Finland, which shares a 1,340km border with Russia, has recorded nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants crossing its eastern border gates since August. In November alone, more than 600 migrants reached the Finnish border.
According to immigration authorities, the migrants came from countries including Yemen, Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria.
The Finnish government expects the number of migrants arriving in the country to continue to rise. To stem the flow of migrants, Finland closed eight border checkpoints with Russia in November.
The Russian government has protested against Finland's decision to close its border with the country. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Finland acted unilaterally by closing its border crossings with Russia.
Moscow also sent a note of protest to the Finnish ambassador over the closure of the checkpoints, saying Helsinki had violated the rights and interests of Finns as well as Russians.
After being admitted to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 2023, Finland's border became a common NATO border.
According to VNA