Finland’s border guard recommends fencing off border with Russia; to cost million of Euros
The Finnish border guard has recommended fencing off parts of the country’s eastern border with Russia amid Russia’s partial military mobilization.
The Border Guard of Finland has recommended fencing off parts of the country’s eastern border with Russia as part of a general security beef-up amid the Russian military’s partial mobilisation. Any on-ground action to the recommendation would be to the tune of millions of euros, the newspaper Uutissuomalainen reported, as per Sputnik.
According to the Finnish Border Guard’s own estimate, the border fencing would span 10-20 % of the 1,300-kilometer border and cover up to 260 kilometres. The newspaper stated that according to the authority, the measure was warranted by the recent changes in the security environment.
Finnish border busier than usual since Russia’s military call-up
On its Twitter handle, the Finnish border guard stated on Monday that the traffic at the country’s eastern border had remained busy. Previously, the border guard had reported that 8,314 Russians entered the nation via the border on Sunday.
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According to the Border Guard, building the fence would take between two and three years while the fence would be designed to last at least 50 years. Meanwhile, Finland’s Border Guard chief Lieutenant General Pasi Kostamovaara presented the estimates of constructing the fence to be around a few hundred million euros. Kostamovaara further revealed that the sum would also include the necessary monitoring equipment and infrastructure arrangements to enable the border guards to respond to illegal crossings immediately and without delay.
Citing the highest cross-border traffic, Kostamovaara identified south-eastern Finland as the most likely part of the country to host the fence. The region borders Russia’s Leningrad Oblast.
European Council Chief urges Europe to give asylum to fleeing Russians
Charles Michel, the President of the European Council had urged Europe to show an “openness to those who don’t want to be instrumentalized by the Kremlin” while addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
However, despite Michel’s calls to grant asylum to the Russians fleeing the conflict, the respective Foreign Ministers of Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, and Latvia had announced the closure of their borders with Russia following Putin’s announcement of partial military mobilization.
Gabrielius Landsbergis, the Foreign Minister of Lithuania stated in a Tweet that the country would not grant asylum to the Russians fleeing the conflict. “Russians should stay and fight. Against Putin,” tweeted Landsbergis.
Despite a substantial tightening of visa rules throughout the region, Finland has been the only EU country bordering Russia with a land border accessible to Russians since mid-September. In view of this, the Finnish authorities announced last week that a decision to ban tourism and transit from Russia had been made. In recent decades, tourism from Russia has been a pillar of the economy in the eastern part of Finland, with numerous border towns depending on Russian shoppers for income.
