Finland has fenced itself off from Russia: Helsinki has completed a large-scale 200-kilometer project

Finland has completed the construction of approximately 200 kilometers of barrier structures along its border with russia. UNN reports this, citing Finnish media and government sources.

The project, implemented over several years following a sharp deterioration in the security situation and cases of instrumentalized migration by the russian federation, cost approximately €356 million.

Details

The official project completion ceremony took place on September 7 in the area of the Nuijamaa border crossing near Lappeenranta. It was attended by Finnish Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen, Border Guard leadership, and representatives of contractor companies.

Finland's total land border with russia is approximately 1,340 km long. The fence covers approximately 200 km, or about 15% of the border. At the same time, this is not a continuous structure but dozens of separate sections in areas that the Finnish authorities consider most vulnerable to illegal or mass border crossings.

About 140 km of barriers were built in the southeast of the country and in the Kymenlaakso region, another 35 km in North Karelia, and approximately 25 km in Kainuu, Koillismaa, and Lapland. The main fence is approximately 4.5 meters high. The system also includes surveillance cameras, lighting, sensors, loudspeakers, patrol roads, and a strip cleared of vegetation along the border. The technical equipment is designed to automatically notify border guards of suspicious activity.

The project began to be prepared in autumn 2022, and construction of the first pilot section near Imatra began in spring 2023. Large-scale work got underway in 2024. According to the latest estimates, the total construction cost was approximately €356 million, about €22 million less than the initially allocated budget. Annual maintenance of the system is estimated at approximately €1.5 million.

One of the main reasons cited by the Finnish authorities for constructing the fence was the threat of so-called instrumentalized migration. In autumn 2023, citizens of third countries began arriving en masse at border crossing points from the russian side without the necessary documents.

According to Reuters, approximately 1,300 asylum seekers crossed the russian-Finnish border between August and December 2023. Helsinki accused moscow of deliberately directing migrants toward the border for the purpose of political pressure. russia denied the accusations. Following this, Finland closed the land border crossing points on its border with the russian federation. They remain closed today. In June 2026, the Finnish government decided to maintain the restrictions indefinitely due to the risk of a recurrence of instrumentalized migration.

In addition, at the beginning of September, the Finnish government proposed extending until the end of 2028 the validity of a special border security law that, under exceptional circumstances, allows the temporary restriction of the acceptance of applications for international protection in certain areas.

Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen also did not rule out that Finland might build additional sections of fencing in the future and secure funding for them from the European Union.

Recall

A month earlier, Spain introduced border controls at all air and sea crossings with Italy due to a dispute over migrants. Italy had previously suspended the Schengen Agreement, citing an influx of migrants to Ceuta.