Starting April 15, Finland will suspend traffic on the Saimaa Canal, which connects the Finnish Lake Saimaa with the Gulf of Vyborg, for pleasure craft. In addition, Finland will indefinitely close the Haapasaari and Santio sea checkpoints on the border with Russia. DW writes about this with reference to the Russian Federal Customs Service (FCS), UNN reports .
Details
The agency notes that Helsinki is also extending the closure of all land border crossings between Russia and Finland (Imatra, Kuusamo, Niirala, Nuijamaa, Raya-Josepi, Salla, Vaalimaa and Vartius) from April 15 "until further notice".
Finland's Interior Ministry explained the indefinite closure of the border as a "risk of instrumental immigration.
Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said earlier that "instrumental immigration is not when people need asylum, but rather when Russia uses them as a tool of pressure.
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The gradual closure of the checkpoints by the Finnish side began in November 2023. At first, some border crossings did not work, then the restrictions were extended to all land crossings and extended several times.
The decision to close the border in Helsinki was linked to the influx of asylum seekers to the EU from the Middle East and Africa, whom Finland accused of being organized by Russia.
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