On November 19, Finnish armed forces and police appeared at the Vartius border gate, adjacent to Russia's Lytya border gate in Karelia, to erect fences and barbed wire.
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| The border area between Finland and Russia is under close surveillance due to concerns about the influx of migrants. (Source: Reuters) |
According to Captain Jouko Kinnunen, the country's army is assisting border guards in erecting temporary barriers.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry has remained calm about the above moves. The command of Russia's Western Military District said that small Finnish engineering units appeared on the border, but they did not pose any threat.
After the closure of the four eastern border crossings with Russia - Imatra, Niirali, Nuijamaa, Vaalimaa, people can now only cross the two countries through the two border crossings of Vartius and Salla. On November 18, 284 people crossed the border into Vartius, of whom 67 sought asylum.
Due to concerns about the influx of migrants, the Vartius border crossing was temporarily closed on November 17. It only resumed operations on the morning of November 18, but it has to be closed periodically due to the appearance of new groups of refugees.
Finnish border guards predict that the flow of migrants crossing the border on November 18 is expected to increase to 1,000 people.
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