Helsinki accuses Moscow of attempting to destabilize in retaliation for its entry into NATO.
In the freezing Arctic winter, a growing number of asylum seekers from Russia have recently presented themselves at the Finnish border, a hybrid attack orchestrated by Moscow according to Helsinki.
Wearing winter coats, many arrive on bicycles, trying to circumvent a ban on crossing the border on foot, although Finland banned entry by bike last week.
Finnish border guards raised the alarm in early October, warning that Russia was allowing increasing numbers of migrants to cross the border without papers.
These migrants mainly come from the Middle East and Africa.
For Helsinki, this is an attempt at Russian destabilization.
“This is a systematic and organized action by the Russian authorities”Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on Monday.
Since August, around 700 visa-free asylum seekers have entered Finland through the more than 1,300 kilometer-long border, according to Finnish authorities.
Helsinki responded by closing all its eastern border crossing points, keeping only the northernmost one open, bordering the Russian region of Murmansk.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Wednesday denied any deliberate Russian action. “The Finnish authorities are starting to find clumsy excuses, thus reactivating Russophobic sentiments”she said.
The European border guard agency Frontex announced this Thursday the upcoming deployment of 50 officials to the Finnish border.
Estonia also accuses its Russian neighbor
On the other side of the Gulf of Finland, Estonia also accuses neighboring Russia of sending migrants from Syria and Somalia to the border.
Latvia and Norway are also on guard.
But all these countries must also respect their human rights obligations to avoid a humanitarian crisis as temperatures plummet.