STOCKHOLM, November 23. /TASS/. Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, announced plans to deploy 50 border guard officers to Finland to strengthen border control with Russia.
"Frontex plans to provide the first group of officers for deployment on Wednesday, 29 November, to expand Frontex Joint Operation Terra 2023 in Finland. These will include border surveillance officers, support for registering migrants, document experts and interpreters. Frontex currently has 10 officers working at the Finnish borders," the agency said in a statement on its website.
On November 20, Finnish Interior Minister Marie Rantanen said that the country had sent a request to Frontex for additional assistance to secure the eastern border.
On the night of November 17-18, Finland closed four border crossing points on its eastern border - Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala. According to Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo, the authorities are reacting to the influx of "third country citizens" to the eastern border of Finland, which has increased recently. As Interior Minister Rantanen explained, the decision is valid until February 18, 2024.
On November 22, the Finnish government decided to close three of the remaining four checkpoints on the border with Russia, with the exception of the Raya-Jooseppi checkpoint. Another checkpoint, Syvaoro on the Russian side and Parikkala on the Finnish side, were closed indefinitely in April 2022.