Artificial migration crisis caused by Russia is part of broader context – Finnish President
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has stated that Russia's involvement in the influx of asylum seekers at the Finnish border has not been an operation against Finland but is rather "part of a broader context".
Source: Finnish broadcasting company Yle with reference to Niinisto, as reported by European Pravda
Details: The president believes that pressure using migrants is not only targeted at Finland. He noted that Latvia, Lithuania and Poland had previously faced a similar hybrid operation.
Quote: "Russia's actions against Finland are not separate from the general context. Russia is waging a propaganda war, and it is aiming to puzzle the West," Niinisto noted.
He believes that the effect of this may be the opposite of Moscow's hopes.
"The use of migration as a tool for applying pressure stirs up emotions not only in Finland but also at a European level. And this may become an additional incentive to continue supporting Ukraine," the president said.
Background:
- Finland decided to temporarily close the last functioning checkpoint on the Russian border from 30 November until 13 December, with only freight trains allowed to cross.
- The country decided to take this step since, from mid-November onwards, significantly more people without documents entitling them to enter EU territory began to arrive at checkpoints on the Finnish-Russian border. Previously, Russian border guards would not have allowed such travellers to leave.
- Staff from Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, arrived in Finland on 28 November due to the situation on the eastern border.
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