Finland Permanently Shuts Down 2 Border Crossing Points With Russia

Finland has decided to permanently shut down two temporary border crossing points with Russia – the Parikkala and Lieksa crossing points.

Announcing the news, the commander of the North Karelia Border Guard, Samuli Murtonen, said that this decision would not affect local citizens and, at the same time, stressed that it does not change the current prevailing situation Schengen.News reports.

The decision does not change the prevailing situation in any way and does not affect local residents.

Commander of the North Karelia Border Guard Samuli Murtonen

The Parikkala and Lieksa temporary border crossing points, which are located in southeast Finland, have not been open for movement for several years now.

As the Finnish Border Guard explains, traffic from and to Russia at the Lieksa border crossing points was stopped on November 1, 2021, and on April 19, 2022, at the Parikkala border crossing points due to wood export restrictions.

Before deciding to take this measure, the Finnish Border Guard officials agreed with their Russian counterparts on the matter. This means that the decision to close the temporary border crossing points was approved by two parties.

Following this decision, Yle News explains that Finland’s government now needs to amend the regulation on border crossing points in order to remove reference to the Parikkala and Lieksa border posts.

Authorities to Remove Markings for the 2 Border Crossing Points

In its official statement announcing the decision to close the two border crossings, the Finnish Border Guard said that the authorities will now take all the necessary measures to implement the decision.

The same authority further noted that, among other things, they would remove the markings on the two border crossing points.

The Border Guard of Southeast Finland and the Border Guard of North Karelia will take the necessary practical measures to implement the decision, which means, for example, removing the markings telling about the border crossing point.

Finnish Border Guard

Finland currently keeps its entire eastern border with Russia closed. Following instrumentalised migration concerns, the Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo, said earlier in August that the country does not have any plans to reopen this part of the border in the near future.

Since Finland has not shared any dates when the measures at the eastern border will be dropped, the checks will continue to remain effective indefinitely.

To deal with instrumentalised migration, the Finnish Parliament approved a law at the beginning of July. In line with this law, the border authorities are permitted to block asylum seekers from entering Finland’s territory and have the right to deny them the right to appeal.