Estonia and Norway follow Finland in preparing to close the border with Russia
The presidents of Germany and Finland accused Russia of deliberately using migrants to destabilize the situation in their countries
Estonia and Norway are considering closing their border crossings with Russia following Finland's similar decision.
The head of the Estonian Border Guard, Veiko Kommusaar, told Postimees that Tallinn was aware of Helsinki's decision to close four checkpoints due to the influx of migrants. According to him, this "may mean that people who have been gathering at these borders will move to Estonian border crossings."
Commusaar noted that the authorities are closely monitoring the situation and are ready to prevent any illegal migration if necessary, which "may mean partial or complete closure of the border crossings."
A similar statement was made by the head of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, Emilie Enger Mel. The country has a single border control point with Russia in Storskug. The Minister emphasized that there is no rush at the checkpoint.
"The traffic is very low and has been low throughout the fall. But we are closely monitoring the situation, and we may have to close the border for a short time if necessary," Mel told NTB.
Background. On November 16, Finland announced the closure of 4 out of 9 checkpoints on the border with Russia. The authorities explained this by the growing number of illegal migrants arriving from Russia. Since September, 280 citizens of Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, and other countries have entered Finland in this way. All of them were seeking asylum.
The day before, the presidents of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Finland, Sauli Niinistö, accused Russia of deliberately using migrants to destabilize their countries. The Finnish leader believed that these actions were a response to the signing of a defense cooperation agreement between Helsinki and Washington, and called for preparations for other "nastiness" from the Russian side.
In turn, Steinmeier noted that the increase in the number of refugees is causing concern in the EU countries, including Germany and Finland, which is known in Russia. "Therefore, I suspect that this is not entirely accidental," the president said.
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