The Finnish government is asking its Parliament to extend a border closure measure, enacted in July 2024, that closes off the Nordic country’s land frontier with Russia. REUTERS
REUTERS
Finland’s government asked Parliament in March 2025 to extend until the end of 2026 a law that allows it to reject asylum applications from migrants crossing its closed eastern border with Russia and to send them back. NATO member Finland has accused Russia of weaponizing migration by encouraging migrants from third countries to cross their shared border, an assertion the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.
“The threat of instrumentalized migration at Finland’s eastern border remains high and unpredictable,” Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said in a statement, adding the situation at the border was tense but stable.
While Finland’s non-discrimination ombudsman says the law is at odds with international human rights commitments and EU asylum rules, the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has said it must be extended to prevent possible future arrivals. The emergency law, initially approved for a year in July 2024, was part of the government’s response to more than 1,300 migrants from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen entering Finland from Russia in 2023. That phenomenon also prompted Finland to close the border with Russia.
The flow of migrants stopped after Finland closed all official border crossing points at the end of 2023, and in 2024 only eight people crossed the border illegally after January, interior ministry data showed. The government needs the support of three-quarters of lawmakers in the 200-strong Parliament to secure an extension of the law, a high bar reflecting the fundamental principles at stake.
The current emergency legislation expires on July 21.