Russia is accused of militarizing immigration by funneling migrants to Finland’s borders in recent weeks.
L’Estonia declared itself ready to face a possible “overflow” on its territory, in the context of the migration crisis raging in the east of the European Union.
There Finland is preparing to close its last remaining open border crossing with Russia overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, following a recent increase in the number of people trying to enter the country illegally. Moscow has been accused of pushing migrants towards the Finnish border as part of a “hybrid warfare“.
Neighboring Estonia, which also borders Russia, has said it could also be affected, although it has not yet faced similar pressure on its border, according to Estonian authorities.
“Finland’s decision to close all crossing points on its eastern border does not necessarily mean that Russia’s migration pressure will spill over to our crossing points or the green border“, declares the Estonian Minister of the Interior, Lauri Läänemets, in a press release sent to Euronews.
“But we consider this to be a likely scenario and have therefore taken all necessary measures in the event of immigration spillover towards the Estonian borders or border crossing points“.
The green border designates natural and forested areas where there are no official crossing points.
Several voices in the small Baltic state have called for a preventive closure of its border with Russia.
However, Lauri Läänemets considers that “given resources and readiness, this would not be the best approach“.
“Instead of investing additional resources in preventive closures, we believe it is more important to save our energy and resources in order to maintain a maximum level of preparation. Depending on the scenarios, we may need our staff elsewhere“.
The interior minister said no other groups of migrants had arrived at the Narva border crossing in northeastern Estonia over the past week, but added that the country “must prepare for a scenario in which overflows from Finland directly reach our green border in the southeast“.
“Estonia will not let anyone enter the EU and Schengen area through its border crossing points without the necessary papers and authorizations“, adds Lauri Läänemets.
Since August, around 900 people, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, have arrived at the Finnish border, many on brand new bicycles.
Last week, the Estonian Defense Minister, Hanno Pevkurdeclared that it was an operation “entirely orchestrated by Russia“, which, according to him, uses immigration as a weapon.
Moscow has already threatened to take retaliatory measures against Finland for its NATO membershipwhile Estonia and the EU in general are in its crosshairs for their support of Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion.
“We know very well that migrants do not reach the EU borders alone, without support and advice“, declares the Minister of the Interior, Lauri Läänemets, “We are witnessing an orchestrated migration operation which could not take place without the involvement of the Russian authorities and secret services_”.
Russia has denied it is encouraging undocumented people to cross the border.
Several observers suspect Moscow of trying to destabilize EU member statesa border crisis that risks worsening social polarization and political divisions.
However, Lauri Läänemets opposes this idea.
“Generally speaking, it is interesting to note that Russian attempts to divide Finnish society using migratory pressure failed, and instead brought Finland closer to the Baltic States and Poland, which faced similar hybrid attacks in recent years“, he says.
“Through its actions, Russia is once again encouraging the EU to rethink its approach to immigration. We must tackle illegal immigration not only to protect our own security and free movement within the Schengen area, but also to prevent innocent people from third world countries from being used as pawns by countries hostile, as part of hybrid warfare, or by organized crime for the purposes of illegal profit“.
In what has been called the Europe’s forgotten migration crisisthere Belarus has pushed many migrants to the borders of Lithuania and Poland, as part of a geopolitical dispute, over the past three years.
Aside from pressing humanitarian concerns, rights groups have condemned the Lithuanian authorities’ response. The latter have been widely accused of violently pushing back migrants towards Belarus, and of subjecting thousands of them to inhumane conditions and torture in detention camps, according to Amnesty.
There Latvia has experienced the same crisis in recent months on its border with Belarus.
In October, no less than a hundred “illegal migrants” were trying to enter Latvia from Belarus every day. Part of the Estonian border forces were then sent to help Riga, the Estonian Interior Ministry said in a second statement sent to Euronews.