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After joining NATO, Finland installs barbed wire on the border with Russia

2023-04-16 08:34:00Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

After joining NATO, Finland installs barbed wire on the border with Russia

Less than two weeks after joining NATO, Finland has begun installing barbed wire on its border with Russia, a move aimed at curbing illegal border crossings.

The Finnish border guard showed on Friday the construction of the first three kilometers of this barbed-wire dividing line in the area of ​​Pekola, near the lakeside town of Imatras of 25,000.

Finland's border line with Russia is, at 1,340 kilometers, the longest among all other countries of the European Union.

The construction of the border fence was approved last year by Prime Minister Sanna Marin's government with broad political support.

Finnish border officials say the main purpose of the three-meter-high steel fence with a barbed wire extension on top is to prevent illegal crossings from Russia and give authorities time to react.

During 2015-2016, Moscow tried to influence Helsinki by organizing large numbers of asylum seekers at Finland's northern border crossing points.

Russian authorities pushed thousands of asylum seekers, mostly from Iraq, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries, to these border crossing points.

The move was described as a show of force by Moscow. The issue was resolved when Finnish President Sauli Niinistö held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The flow of immigrants stopped soon after.

Finland, with a population of 5.5 million, which officially became a NATO member on April 4, aims to prevent a repeat of such a scenario.

However, border officials admit that Russia's attack on Ukraine was the main reason that prompted Finland to join the alliance and build the barbed-wire border.

"The construction of the border barrier was not a political topic before the war (in Ukraine). And actually, it wasn't even in the Finnish border guard's plans,” General Jari Tolppanen, head of the Finnish Border Guard's technical division, told The Associated Press. "Everything changed after the attack (of Russia against Ukraine)".

The construction of the barbed wire dividing line is expected to be completed by the end of this summer and is expected to have a maximum length of 200 kilometers.

"In this new situation, we have to increase border control," said Mr. Tolppanen. "We need to strengthen our resources. And the fence is necessary to manage, for example, large-scale illegal immigration.”

The Finnish city of Imatra is located just seven kilometers from the Russian industrial city of Svetogorsk in the Karelia region and is a few hours' drive from Russia's second largest city, St. Petersburg.

The city has a long history of dealing with Russians – tourists, day-trippers and permanent residents.

"Here in Imatra, we are not so afraid of the Russians," said Antero Lattu, vice president of the Imatra City Council, "but we are happy about the fence being put up."

The border fence project is estimated to cost around 380 million euros and is scheduled to be completed by 2026./VOA


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