Finland’s Border With Russia to Remain Closed Until Further Notice

Authorities in Finland have announced that their eastern border with Russia will remain closed until further notice.

The decision has been confirmed through a statement provided by the Finnish Ministry of Interior, Schengen.News reports.

The Government has renewed its decision on the closure of border crossing points on the eastern border. On April 16, 2025, the Government decided that the border crossing points on the eastern border remain closed.

The Ministry highlighted that applications for international protection continue to remain centralised.

Over a Year of Border Closure

The Finnish authorities closed their border with Russia on December 15, 2023, over concerns that its neighbouring country was facilitating the entry of migrants to Finland.

Announcing the new decision, the statement from the Finnish government provided on April 16, says that based on the current information, the risk of the instrumentalised migration will resume and expand as seen previously remains likely.

The statement also emphasises that if the phenomenon were to continue, it would bring significant risk to Finland’s national security as well as public order.

The government also said that it will assess regularly the content as well as the scope of the recent decision.

The decision will be repealed or amended if it is no longer necessary to prevent a serious threat to national security or public order.

Finnish PM Had Already Warned of an Indefinite Border Closure

In August this year, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said that his country doesn’t plan to reopen Finland’s eastern border with Russia amid concerns over instrumentalised migration.

In an interview, back then, the Finnish PM expressed his scepticism that the Kremlin would not use the border to pursue its interests.

We would need assurance that Russia is ready to cooperate based on the previous model, where both countries ensured that only people with valid travel documents arrived at border stations. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo

The Finnish government approved a law aimed at preventing irregular migration, which took effect in July 2024, with the country’s authorities stressing that the act would remain effective for about a year.

This is a law that aims to oppose controlled migration. It is not a law on migration or asylum policy.

In addition to Finland, other neighbouring countries of Russia, such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, also imposed border controls with Russia in a bid to halt irregular migration and enhance national security.